Investment into Asia-based startups surged to $42.8 billion in Q2 2026, the highest quarterly total in over three years, per Crunchbase data. Artificial intelligence companies captured more than 60% of this capital, pulling in over $26 billion — a record sum. Funding was highly concentrated, with deal counts hitting a multiyear low even as investment skyrocketed.

China dominated the region, attracting over $30 billion (a 424% year-over-year jump), followed by Singapore at $3.6 billion and India at $3.3 billion. The standout raise came from Deep Seek, a Chinese large language model developer that secured $7.4 billion at a reported $50 billion valuation in June. Two other foundational AI startups, China-based Step Fun and Singapore-headquartered Day One, each raised $2.5 billion.

Late-stage rounds led with nearly $21 billion, the highest in four years, while early-stage investment tripled year-over-year to $18.4 billion. Seed funding held steady at $3.7 billion. Despite the upbeat totals, investors remain selective, directing large checks to a few favored names while many founders still struggle to secure backing.