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Welcome to another edition of 🔍 Startup Researcher - Asia, your essential digest delivering the latest news and premium insights on startups and venture capital across the region 🌏️
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📰 Important News
- Ex-Indonesian Minister Nadiem Makarim has been formally charged overa $125 million COVID Chromebook deal.
- Airwallex to invest $234 million in the Netherlands to scale its Amsterdam hub and EU growth, targeting an IPO by 2026.
- The Delhi government launched the Startup Yuva Festival 2026 and announced a $36 million Delhi Startup Policy to support 5,000 startups by 2035.
- Singapore and Japan signed their first government-level quantum cooperation pact, spanning research, talent, standards, commercialization, and private funding.
- Namma Yatri and OneBanc launched corporate ride benefits, offering zero-commission rides and automated expense management across India.
💸 Top Funding Rounds
- DayOne Data Centers raised over $2 billion in Series C funding to accelerate hyperscale expansion in Europe and Asia-Pacific.
- Shenzhen-based RayNeo secured over $143 million in a funding round co-led by state-owned telecom giants China Mobile and CITIC Goldstone.
- Xreal Inc. attracted $100 million in funding, intensifying competition with Meta and Apple, collaborating with Google on Android XR glasses for a 2026 launch.
- Articul8 AI landed $70 million in Series B funding, at a $500 million valuation, to fuel global expansion.
- Linker Vision closed a $35 million Series A funding round led by Abico Group, with NVIDIA also participating, to accelerate its global expansion.
💰️ IPO and M&A Watch
- Grab acquired robotics startup Infermove to boost autonomous last-mile delivery across Southeast Asia and cut rising labor costs.
- Amagi Media Labs is launching a downsized IPO next week targeting $869 million valuation, funding tech upgrades and acquisitions.
- Agrifintech Unnati to acquire Info Edge-backed Gramophone in stock swap valuing Gramophone at $10.2 million.
- CARS24 acquired CarInfo to expand vehicle management and compliance tools in its auto-tech ecosystem for millions of owners.
- MiniMax surged 109% on its Hong Kong IPO after raising $619 million, signaling strong investor appetite for AI software firms.
🏦 About Investors
- Antler raised $510 million for global expansion, allocating half to US-based founders via a new San Francisco residency.
- AppWorks has closed its fourth venture fund at $165 million, to invest in early-stage AI and Web3 startups across Asia.
- South Korea committed $20.6 billion from its National Growth Fund this year to advanced sectors like AI and semiconductors.
- Puneet Kumar exited Nexus Venture Partners to launch a new startup in stealth as Nexus closed its latest fund.
🚀Startup of the Week
Introducing our Startup of the Week 🏆
DayOne Data Centers
Headquartered in Singapore, DayOne Data Centers is a next-generation hyperscale platform built by a team with over two decades of industry experience, developing AI-ready, high-density data centers across Asia-Pacific and Europe. The company serves hyperscalers and large enterprises with energy-efficient campuses using liquid cooling and prefabricated deployment. In January 2026, DayOne secured over $2 billion in Series C equity financing, one of the largest private rounds in the global data center sector, led by Coatue with strategic participation from the Indonesia Investment Authority. Led by CEO Jamie Khoo, DayOne is scaling campuses in Finland and the SIJORI region, backed by approximately 1GW of secured customer commitments, reinforcing its role in the global cloud and AI infrastructure build-out.
💼 Investor of the Week
Introducing our Investor of the Week 🏆
AppWorks
Founded in 2009 in Taipei, AppWorks has grown into one of Asia’s most influential early-stage venture capital platforms, backing founders across AI, Web3, and the digital economy. In January 2026, the firm closed its fourth fund at $165 million, lifting total capital raised to $386 million and securing rare pan-Asian backing from Taiwan’s National Development Fund, Malaysia’s Jelawang Capital, and Korea Venture Investment Corporation. Led by founder and chairman Jamie Lin, AppWorks combines capital with a powerful accelerator and founder network, having backed category leaders like Lalamove, Animoca Brands, and Carousell. Its edge lies in pairing regional capital, corporate access, and hands-on ecosystem support to help Asian startups scale globally.
🤑Opportunities Expiring Soon
Scale Your High-Tech Vision with ExciteLab
- 📢 Organizer: ExciteLab
- 🗂️ Category: Award/Prize, Funding, Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: DeepTech
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 13, 2026
RIOT Startup Accelerator
- 📢 Organizer: RIOT
- 🗂️ Category: Accelerator
- 🪜 Target Stages: Stage Agnostic
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Sector Agnostic
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 16, 2026
LACI Startup Programs
- 📢 Organizer: Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)
- 🗂️ Category: Incubator, Funding
- 🪜 Target Stages: Pre-seed, Seed
- 🏭 Focus Sectors: Energy & Environment
- 📅 Application Deadline: January 16, 2026
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