DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, teams up with leading VC firm Granite Asia to address the region’s capital shortage
DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, and Granite Asia—an investment fund focused on Asia—are rolling out a unique “one-of-a-kind” partnership to support emerging startups, supported by a new $110 million AI-focused IPO fund available only to DBS’s high-net-worth clients.
The three-year partnership is part of an effort to increase capital availability for Asia’s startups, which have fewer funding avenues than those based in more mature Western economies.
“The U.S. is amply funded, if not overfunded,” Jenny Lee, [missing title], tells [missing publication]. (The U.S. made up 10 out of the 11 largest deals in the final quarter of 2025, [missing source].) “The rest of Asia is underinvested […] and Asia is not small,” Lee adds.
Southeast Asia’s funding landscape has faced challenges in recent years, with investors holding back due to a tough macroeconomic environment and mixed returns.
Traditional banks are reluctant to offer loans to startups, which often burn through cash quickly in their early growth stages, [missing name] noted. Through its collaboration with Granite Asia, DBS aims to invest early in promising companies and foster long-term partnerships with them.
Lee and Tan, both with decades of experience in Asia’s finance sector, have been long-time friends. “Jenny and I meet in all the strangest places—corridors, conferences, restrooms,” Tan jokes. This partnership originated from a 2025 conference meeting in Qatar, where they discussed the growth of Asia’s tech and AI sectors. “We were lamenting that there was so much talent, but not enough capital to fund these entrepreneurs,” the DBS CEO recalls.
Even the most successful rising AI startups in Asia secure far less funding than their U.S. counterparts. Chinese startup Moonshot—creator of the open-source Kimi AI model—raised $500 million earlier this year, [missing source]. By contrast, Anthropic, the developer of the Claude model, raised [missing amount] earlier this month.
The new DBS-Granite Asia IPO fund will offer investors “early access” to “high-growth AI-driven companies in the region” and has attracted participation from clients across Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Europe, the two firms stated. Granite Asia will manage the collected funds, directing them to companies at the IPO stage.
DBS, ranked No. 7 on the Southeast Asia 500, is rooted in development, Tan says. Founded in 1968 as the Development Bank of Singapore, it was established to manage the industrial financing responsibilities of Singapore’s Economic Development Board.
“We’ve always focused on backing entrepreneurs and supporting businesses from early to mid-growth stages and beyond,” Tan adds.
DBS’s wealth clients will also benefit from new opportunities to invest in growth assets and private markets. “That’s where a lot of alpha can be generated,” Tan explains, noting the partnership is likely to deliver higher returns for DBS customers compared to more conservative investments like ETFs. “If you want alpha, you have to move up the value chain and supply chain to more upstream companies.”
Granite Asia manages around $10 billion in assets and has supported 65 IPOs worldwide. The firm spun off from U.S. venture fund GGV Capital, which split its operations in 2024. Granite has collaborated with other Asian organizations, including Khazanah and the Indonesia Investment Authority.
Lee launched one of GGV’s initial China offices in 2005 and has invested in some of the region’s top tech firms, such as [missing phone manufacturer] and ride-hailing platform Grab. Granite Asia has also expanded into other financing areas, like private credit.
Both Tan and Lee hope their collaboration will build a larger ecosystem that helps Asia’s founders succeed.
“This multi-asset partnership is deeply rooted in Asia,” Tan says. “It brings together an understanding of Asian needs, Asian capital, Asian purpose, Asian expertise, Asian hardware, and software.
“They all come together quite nicely.”