{"id":24279,"date":"2026-02-23T03:35:44","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:35:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=24279"},"modified":"2026-02-23T03:35:44","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T03:35:44","slug":"dbs-partners-with-granite-asia-to-help-counter-the-regions-lack-of-capital-with-110m-ai-ipo-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=24279","title":{"rendered":"DBS partners with Granite Asia to help counter the region’s lack of capital with $110M AI IPO fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

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DBS, Southeast Asia\u2019s largest bank, and Granite Asia, an Asia-focused investment fund, are launching a new \u201cfirst-of-its-kind\u201d partnership to support new startups, underpinned by a new $110 million AI-focused IPO fund offered exclusively to DBS\u2019s high-wealth clients.<\/p>\n

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The partnership, which will continue for three years, is part of a push to provide more capital for Asia\u2019s startups, which have fewer funding options available to them compared to those based in more mature Western economies.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe U.S. is amply funded, if not overfunded,\u201d Jenny Lee, senior managing partner at Granite Asia, tells Fortune. <\/em>(The U.S. accounted for 10 of the 11 largest deals of the last quarter of 2025, according to KPMG). \u201cThe rest of Asia is under invested [\u2026] and Asia is not small,\u201d Lee adds.<\/p>\n

Southeast Asia\u2019s funding scene has struggled in recent years as investors hold back amid a challenging macroeconomic environment and a mixed record of returns.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Traditional banks are hesitant to extend loans to startups, which often burn through cash in their early stages of growth, DBS CEO Tan Su Shan noted. Through its collaboration with Granite Asia, DBS hopes to invest early in promising companies and develop long-term relationships with them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lee and Tan, both of whom spent decades in Asia\u2019s finance sector, have long been friends. \u201cJenny and I meet in all the strangest places\u2014corridors, conferences, toilets,\u201d Tan quips.\u00a0This current partnership grew from a meeting in a conference in Qatar in 2025, where they discussed the growth of Asia\u2019s tech and AI sector. \u201cWe were bemoaning the fact that there was so much talent, but not enough capital to fund these guys,\u201d the DBS CEO recalls.<\/p>\n

Even the most successful of Asia\u2019s rising AI startups raise significantly less money than their U.S. counterparts. Chinese startup Moonshot, developer of the open-source Kimi model, raised $500 million earlier this year, according to local media. By comparison, Anthropic, developer of the Claude model, raised $30 billion earlier this month. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The new DBS-Granite Asia IPO fund will give investors \u201cearly access\u201d to \u201chigh-growth AI-driven companies in the region,\u201d and has gotten participation from clients based in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Europe, the two companies said in a statement.\u00a0Granite Asia will manage the pooled capital, sending it to IPO-stage companies. <\/p>\n

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Courtesy of DBS<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

DBS, No. 7 on the Southeast Asia 500, has its \u201croots in development,\u201d Tan says. The bank was founded in 1968 as the Development Bank of Singapore, set up to handle the industrial financing responsibilities of Singapore\u2019s Economic Development Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were always about backing entrepreneurs, and supporting businesses from early- to mid-growth, and beyond,\u201d Tan says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DBS\u2019 wealth clients will also gain from new opportunities to invest in growth assets and private markets. \u201cThat\u2019s where quite a lot of the alpha can be created,\u201d Tan explains, noting that the new partnership will likely generate greater returns on investment for DBS customers compared to more conservative assets like ETFs. \u201cIf you want alpha, you\u2019ve got to go up the value chain, up the supply chain, to more upstream companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Granite Asia has around $10 billion in assets under management, and has supported 65 IPOs around the world. The firm was born from U.S. venture fund GGV Capital, which split its Asia and U.S. operations in 2024. Granite has partnered with other Asian organizations, like sovereign wealth funds Khazanah and the Indonesia Investment Authority.<\/p>\n

Lee opened one of GGV\u2019s first China offices in 2005, and has backed some of the region\u2019s leading tech firms, like phone manufacturer Xiaomi and ride-hailing platform Grab. Granite Asia has also expanded into other forms of financing, like private credit.<\/p>\n

Both Tan and Lee hope that their collaboration will create a larger ecosystem that enables Asia\u2019s founders to thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis multi-asset partnership is deeply rooted in Asia,\u201d Tan says. \u201cIt brings together the understanding of Asian needs, Asian capital, Asian purpose, Asian knowhow, Asian hardware and software.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all gel quite nicely together.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

#DBS #partners #Granite #Asia #counter #regions #lack #capital #110M #IPO #fund<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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