Investors Shift Gears Amidst Funding Winter in Southeast Asia

Even as the technology sector in Southeast Asia remains crippled by an ongoing funding winter, private investors have turned their attention to profitable, real economy companies. Driving the interest is an uptick in public market listings from domestic demand-led sectors such as renewable energy, electric vehicles, real estate, healthcare and food products. The first six months of 2023 have already seen IPOs worth a reported $4.1 billion, significantly higher in value terms from the same period last year. The next six months are also expected to see a number of Southeast Asian companies go public, led by Indonesian companies which dominated the IPO market in the first six months. The swelling tide of IPOs is in contrast to global IPOs which have seen a steep decline.