For years, funding rounds have been the forex of success in ASEAN’s fintech ecosystem. Pitch decks, valuations, and investor insights typically formed a startup’s momentum greater than its underlying fundamentals.

However that story is altering. Because the ecosystem matures and capital turns into extra selective, the Fintech in ASEAN 2025 report by the Singapore Fintech Affiliation, UOB, and PwC Singapore examined a decade of ASEAN fintech exits to disclose what actually drives long-term outcomes.

Now, what does the info inform us?

A Ten-12 months View of ASEAN’s Fintech Exit Trajectory

In line with the report, 195 ASEAN fintech startups have been acquired since 2016, with most exits occurring by commerce gross sales. Acquisition exercise has typically trended upward over the previous decade, culminating in 37 offers in 2022, the identical yr ASEAN reopened its borders and fintech fundraising hit report highs.

Nevertheless, momentum has slowed sharply. Within the first 9 months of 2025, acquisitions fell considerably, with solely 13 offers recorded.

Whereas Preliminary Public Choices (IPOs) are probably the most recognised exit route publicly, they signify solely a small fraction of precise outcomes right here.

Over the previous decade, simply 12 ASEAN fintechs have gone public, accounting for round 6% of all exit sorts. Notably, 9 of those IPOs passed off throughout the final 5 years, reflecting a latest however slender window of public itemizing exercise.

A placing pattern highlighted within the report is the desire amongst Singapore-based fintechs for abroad listings. All Singapore firms that pursued an IPO opted for US exchanges (NASDAQ or NYSE), underscoring their international investor orientation.

For Singapore, the numbers align with its position because the area’s most energetic fintech hub. The nation accounts for nearly half of all ASEAN fintech exits at 49%, with Indonesia coming in second.

The ten-year dataset additionally reveals a transparent rhythm to liquidity occasions: on common, ASEAN fintechs take about eight years to be acquired, whereas these heading for the general public markets sometimes attain an IPO in round ten years.

Resilient Fintechs Are the Ones That Finally Obtain High quality Exits

An necessary takeaway from this knowledge is that whereas not each founder is racing towards an exit, each fintech must be constructing towards exit readiness. That requires getting the basics proper: reaching profitability, deploying capital with self-discipline, and securing the licences wanted to function and scale throughout a number of jurisdictions.

The final level associated to getting the mandatory licenses to develop and function throughout numerous jurisdictions is especially vital.

As soon as a fintech has the best regulatory footing, it turns into a much more engaging goal for strategic consumers, whether or not that’s an embedded finance participant, a digital financial institution seeking to widen its footprint, or a big monetary establishment in search of specialised capabilities.

Growing sturdy partnerships with incumbents may also strengthen market positioning and set the stage for a cleaner, extra viable exit.

On the similar time, fintechs want to maneuver with intent and work towards breaking even sooner reasonably than later, particularly as some buyers now count on fintechs to succeed in sustainability inside simply two funding rounds.

This expectation is rising as a result of funding throughout ASEAN has entered a leaner, extra aggressive section. Capital remains to be flowing, however it’s concentrating in segments with clearer enterprise fundamentals, reminiscent of funds and insurtech, as mirrored within the graphic beneath.

With fewer buyers deploying capital and heightened competitors from markets such because the Center East and India, fintechs could now even be assessed on actual efficiency reasonably than projected progress.

This funding actuality additionally implies that firms can not rely solely on repeated fairness raises. Many are rethinking their capital combine, exploring debt, hybrid fashions, or different funding channels to scale back dilution and strengthen monetary resilience.

In parallel, valuation self-discipline has returned. After the liquidity surge of 2020 to 2023, buyers now prioritise real looking valuations grounded in money circulate and credible unit economics, a shift that straight impacts a fintech’s future exit potential.

Regulation stays one other important driver. Securing licences early not solely opens doorways for growth but additionally creates regulatory moats that consumers worth extremely. In a market the place exits sometimes take eight to 10 years, these early choices considerably affect long-term outcomes.

For aspiring fintech leaders, this implies staying resilient, defending progress margins, and managing burn with intention; not out of strain, however to construct a enterprise mannequin that may stand up to cycles with out relying solely on steady capital injections.

Featured picture: Edited by Fintech Information Singapore primarily based on picture by freepik on Freepik