Episode Details

Zombie Unicorns: Southeast Asia's Structural VC Problem | Kristie Neo - E714

Season 1 Episode 714 Published 2 months, 3 weeks ago

Description

Southeast Asia's venture market is not in a downturn. It is in a structural winter, and mid-2026 is when that distinction stopped being academic.

Kristie Neo returns to break down what is actually happening across the region: Singapore's IPO revival is real but is being carried by data centres and REITs rather than homegrown tech; allocators now rank Southeast Asia at the bottom of Asia behind China, India, Japan, Korea and ANZ; and a generation of growth-stage companies is being kept alive past the point where a merger or a wind-down would have served everyone better. Jeremy Au and Kristie also work through what could actually restart the funding ladder, from encouraging tech M&A and fixing university IP commercialisation, to tax incentives for angels and support for syndicate leads who can assemble the $1 million to $5 million rounds that Singapore currently cannot fill. If you are a founder raising in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, Thailand or Malaysia, or an LP trying to work out where capital goes next in Asia, this is the honest state of the market.

Watch, listen or read the full insight at https://www.bravesea.com/blog/kristie-neo-southeast-asia-zombie-unicorns

BRAVE is Southeast Asia's leading tech podcast, hosted by Jeremy Au. Honest conversations with the region's top founders, investors, and operators on building startups in Southeast Asia.

New episodes every week. Subscribe so you never miss one.

Listen & Subscribe

YouTube (English), YouTube (Bahasa Indonesia), Spotify (English), Spotify (Bahasa Indonesia), Spotify (Chinese), Spotify (Vietnamese), Apple Podcasts

Follow BRAVE

LinkedIn, X (Twitter), Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp

Follow Jeremy Au

LinkedIn, X / Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Threads, Twitch

Resources

Get transcripts, startup resources & community discussions at www.bravesea.com

#SoutheastAsia #VentureCapital #SingaporeIPO

00:00 Intro

01:00 Singapore's IPO revival and what is really lifting SGX