Vietnam's tech investments beat Singapore for 2019

18% of capital deployed to Southeast Asia went to Vietnam, outpacing Singapore's share of 17%.

Tech investments in Singapore dipped to $693m in 2019, compared to $705 from 2018, according to a report from Cento Ventures. It comprised 17% of capital invested in Southeast Asia.

It fell behind Vietnam for the first time, with the latter taking up 18% of capital invested in Southeast Asia. Still, Singapore maintained its share of investment as a new cohort of later-stage companies like QExpress, Carousell and Taiger raised larger rounds.

Meanwhile, the average Series A deals rose to $4.5 compared to $3.1m over the same period, whilst Series B deals fell to $12.2m from $13.2. The average pre-Series A deals held steady at $700,000.

In contrast, the number of tech investment deals made in Singapore nearly doubled to 191 in 2019, compared to 98 in 2018. It saw the highest number of investments in the region, taking up a third or 35% of all deals.

For the whole region, tech investments fell to $7.7b in 2019, compared to $12b recorded in 2018. The total amount invested in smaller deals, or deals with less than $50m invested, soared to a new record of $2.4b, from $1.5b in 2018.

However, the amount that was deployed in largest deals, or those with more than $50m invested, nearly halved to $5.3b in 2019, compared with $10.5b in 2018.

Indonesia continued to capture the majority of capital invested in Southeast Asia, but its share declined to 59% compared with the past three years when it ranged around 60-76%.