Accelerating Asia Ventures has launched its Cohort 11, which includes nine startups from seven countries in South and Southeast Asia.

The cohort was selected from hundreds of applications, resulting in a 2% acceptance rate.

The startups represent various industries, including AI, cleantech, fintech, agritech, human resources, SaaS, and IoT.

Notably, 60% of the selected companies have female co-founders.

Countries represented in this cohort include Singapore, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.

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🔗 Source: Accelerating Asia Ventures

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Female-led startups gaining unprecedented momentum in Southeast Asian funding landscape

Accelerating Asia’s Cohort 11 with 60% female co-founders reflects a significant regional shift, not just an isolated case.

Female-founded startups in Southeast Asia raised $1.41 billion in 2023, representing 18.3% of total private capital—a substantial increase from 12.6% in 2022 1.

Fintech has emerged as the most equitable sector for female founders, with significant funding rounds for companies like ANEXT Bank and Singlife driving this trend 1.

Despite progress, the funding gap remains substantial, with all-women teams securing only 6.6% of total equity funding, indicating both progress and ongoing challenges 1.

Singapore leads in funding for female entrepreneurs with nearly $998 million raised in 2023, followed by Vietnam with $268.6 million, showing geographical concentration of opportunities 1.

2️⃣ AI integration transforming traditional sectors across Southeast Asia

Cohort 11’s focus on AI across diverse industries (TB-AI, ByteGenie, Aunkur) mirrors broader regional trends where AI is reshaping fundamental sectors.

In agriculture, AI applications are helping farmers reduce costs by over 22% globally through precision farming techniques and data-driven decision making 2.

AI is projected to contribute $1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s regional economy by 2030, with practical applications already appearing in climate resilience and food security 3.

Specific implementations include Indonesia’s Dokter Tania for disease management and Vietnam’s pest identification app for dragon fruit farmers, demonstrating AI’s practical impact on traditional farming 3.

In fintech, AI agents are driving innovation in credit scoring and risk assessment, with companies like Kredivo and Funding Societies using AI to improve access to financing for previously underserved SMEs 4.

3️⃣ Southeast Asia shows uneven but accelerating startup ecosystem development

While Accelerating Asia’s cohort spans 7 countries, historical funding data reveals significant disparities in ecosystem maturity across the region.

Singapore has dominated funding with $7.2 billion raised since 2012, followed by Indonesia with $4.6 billion, while Thailand ($92 million) and Vietnam ($213 million) showed much slower growth during the same period 5.

Investment activity has grown dramatically, with regional startups raising $6.5 billion in 2017, more than double the $3.1 billion raised in 2016 and over three times the $1.7 billion in 2015 5.

The number of deals in Southeast Asia exceeded 500 in 2017, compared to 347 in 2016, indicating rapidly increasing investor confidence 5.

These patterns suggest that while innovation is region-wide, access to capital remains concentrated in more developed startup hubs, creating both challenges and opportunities for programs like Accelerating Asia that support entrepreneurs across diverse markets.

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