Entrepreneur Asia Pacific Staff

The integration gives the fintech access to more than 3 Mn DuitNow QR touchpoints, deepening its push from cross-border transfers into Malaysia’s domestic payments market.

One global payments firm accounts for nearly 70% of the cumulative funding captured by Tracxn’s ranking of the region’s 12 most-funded active payments companies.

The South Korean builder is deploying its full-lifecycle ‘master developer’ model beyond Hanoi as large urban and digital infrastructure projects reshape the region’s capital pipeline.

The US semiconductor group’s secondary listing caps an eight-year evolution from venture-backed startup to regional deeptech anchor.

A UOB survey shows households growing more optimistic about economic prospects while remaining uneasy about bills, incomes and longer-term obligations.

Slower shipments of the Nvidia supplier’s newest AI memory chips pushed some sales beyond the quarter, while the unwinding of leveraged bets deepened the wider market rout.

Its central bank surprised most economists by allowing the local currency to strengthen faster, seeking to limit the impact of higher energy costs after electricity tariffs jumped 17%, while resilient AI-linked growth gave policymakers room to act.

Shares of China’s largest DRAM maker soared after Asia’s biggest IPO of 2026, but with just 6.73% of its stock freely tradable, the extraordinary valuation was also a product of scarcity.

Products accounting for about one-third of Singapore’s exports to the US are affected, prompting businesses to review prices, contracts and supply chains.

The agreement covers investment promotion, business matching and technology transfer, but no specific projects, capital commitments or implementation timetable were announced.

The government has identified 93 initiatives spanning industry, transport and power, but has not disclosed how much capital is committed or how many projects are ready for construction.

The reported $1.1 Bn investment would deepen Samsung's ties with the AI startup as Europe intends to build more of its own AI infrastructure.

The inaugural issue will extend the city-state's green-bond curve as the public sector works towards issuing as much as S$35 Bn in green debt by 2030.

The fourth partnership since 2019 expands into Australia and will use events, targeted promotions and traveller insights to sharpen Singapore's destination marketing.

The Japanese financial group gains an MAS-licensed platform as it looks to expand its exchange, stablecoin and digital-asset businesses in Southeast Asia.

Investors could receive a 0% corporate income-tax rate for as long as 50 years as Jakarta seeks to attract global banks, wealth managers and family offices to a new international financial centre.

Fintech start-ups raised $682 Mn in the first half of 2026, but excluding Airwallex, the total would have fallen 49%, while deal count dropped by nearly a third.

The proposals could limit foreign access to model weights and training data, restrict overseas production of Chinese-designed chips and subject strategic technology acquisitions to tighter scrutiny.

The Alibaba-owned marketplace has until October 20 to propose remedies after regulators found that weak detection and seller controls left dangerous products online for weeks

The alternative asset manager is backing a profitable automotive actuator maker as it seeks growth in industrial and humanoid robotics.

Jakarta has become one of 29 founding members of WAICO while two presidential regulations on AI ethics and a national roadmap await approval.

The Chinese startup’s 2.8-trillion-parameter model combines near-frontier performance with lower pricing, intensifying pressure on both domestic competitors and leading US developers.

The memory-chip maker's strong debut suggests investors are not abandoning the AI trade. They are becoming more selective about which parts of it they are willing to fund.

Tencent could emerge as the biggest individual shareholder in Manus without taking control, as Meta's $2 Bn acquisition is set to be reversed following a Beijing order, leaving the AI startup independent and based in Singapore.

APAC Growth Driven by AI, Deals, Energy, Pharma and Strategic Expansion

AI investment, cross-border M&A, retail divestment, digital infrastructure, renewable energy, and legal developments drive Asia-Pacific business activity.

Today’s roundup features Webull’s $100M acquisition of Pi Securities, OTP Bank’s €7B EMTN programme in Hong Kong, fresh funding for Qashier and Raytech, MINISO’s HK$2B share buyback, Uxin’s $15M investment from NIO Capital, and X Square Robot crossing a $2.8B valuation.

AI infrastructure funding, battery materials investment, specialty chemicals M&A, autonomous mining IPO activity, and proptech restructuring highlight active capital markets and industrial deal flow across Asia-Pacific.

Boosting expansion in the global chip market

Biotech funding, fintech growth capital, healthcare financing, asset management expansion, real estate portfolio restructuring, and hospitality acquisitions dominate deal activity across Asia-Pacific.