Venture capital funding in the AI market across Asia Pacific reached USD 15.4 billion in 2024, despite a dip in deal volumes, according to IDC.
IDC’s report called Powering the AI Wave: Venture Capital Trends and Strategic Vendor Pathways in Asia/Pacific’s AI Landscape — 2025 said the surge in capital investment reflects strong investor interest in scalable AI solutions and industry-specific innovation.
The information technology sector led the investment activity, with a concentration on cloud computing, cybersecurity, SaaS platforms, data analytics, and machine learning. Healthcare emerged as a fast-growing vertical, driven by progress in diagnostics, drug discovery, and personalized treatments. Geographically, China, South Korea, and Japan secured the highest levels of AI funding, while India distinguished itself with software-led, scalable AI innovations.
IDC’s analysis, based on over 2,300 VC deals and direct feedback from digital-native businesses (DNBs), also revealed that more than half of AI-driven DNBs in Asia Pacific remain in the “repeatable” maturity stage, highlighting a lag compared to their North American and European counterparts.
Only 29 percent of DNBs have reached the “optimized” stage, where AI deployment is fully scaled—signaling a significant opportunity for vendors to support infrastructure development, data integration, and automation efforts.
The report also shows that 42 percent of DNBs now actively seek strategic co-innovation with vendors, particularly favoring those offering modular, scalable platforms with localized support.
IDC positions the region as a rising global epicenter for AI investments, enabled by technology ambition, supportive government policies, and the agility of DNBs. Supriya Deka of IDC Asia/Pacific noted that success in this space will hinge on responsible scaling, intelligent localization, and strategic partnerships.
Recent VC funding deals with AI startups
Healthcare‑AI (Harrison.ai, InSilico), enterprise AI (Spotdraft, DutyCast, Populix), robotics‑AI (RLWRLD), and autonomous‑systems (Zelos) have drawn notable investment this quarter, even as regional VC activity in AI slumped due to global uncertainty.
A major milestone was achieved by Harrison.ai in Australia, which closed a $112 million Series C round. This investment will support its global rollout of AI‑driven medical diagnostics and workflow tools.
InSilico Medicine in Hong Kong raised $100 million for its AI platforms.
India’s legal-tech startup Spotdraft secured $54 million in VC funding during Q1.
Indonesia-based Populix, an AI‑powered market research firm, completed the first tranche of a $4.3 million Series B round led by MSW V Asia Fund.
Singapore’s DutyCast, which applies AI agents for trade‑compliance automation, also obtained undisclosed VC support from GTR Ventures and angel investors.
Hong Kong’s AI‑robotics startup RLWRLD, developing foundational AI models for robotics, raised approximately $15 million in seed funding, led by Hashed and backed by major manufacturers and tech firms.
China’s autonomous‑driving logistics company Zelos Technology secured a substantial $100 million Series B3 financing round from a mix of investors including Baidu Ventures, with approval to operate in Singapore.
On the VC fund front, Headline Asia closed a $145 million Fund V targeting early‑stage tech startups—including AI — in Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia.
Despite this, overall VC funding in Asia‑Pacific remained subdued in Q1 2025, with AI deals accounting for just $1.8 billion — about half of the level seen a year earlier, LinkedIn reports.
In India, voice agent testing startup Cekura secured $2.4 million in seed funding led by Y Combinator, serving clients in healthcare and finance with a subscription model.
Airial Travel, which converts social media travel videos into AI-generated itineraries, raised $3 million in a seed round led by Montage Ventures.
GenAI startup Darwix AI attracted $1.5 million in seed funding from Rebalance, IPV, and JITO Angel Network. In parallel, Bat VC launched a $100 million fund targeting early-stage AI startups in India and the US, with ticket sizes between $3 million and $5 million.
In China, Zhipu AI secured 500 million yuan (around $69 million) in new funding from the Huafa Group, adding to a prior 1 billion yuan round, as it advances its GLM foundation model.
Several other Chinese AI startups, such as Rid Vision, AI CARE Medical, Shanghai Qingbao Engine Robotics, LibLib AI, SenseCare, Aspiring, and Hyseim, are also in active fundraising phases, riding the momentum created by the success of DeepSeek.
Other notable rounds in the past year included $200 million raised by Sakana AI in Japan, $137 million each by Neolix and Univista in China, $111 million by Australia’s Harrison.ai, $100 million by Hong Kong’s InSilico Medicine, and $54 million by India’s Spotdraft.
VC firms are also stepping up deployment, as seen with Headline Asia’s $145 million Fund V focused on early-stage AI innovation. The region’s AI ecosystem continues to attract capital amid strategic interest in domain-specific solutions, platform capabilities, and commercialization of foundation models.
Rajani Baburajan
