DBS, Southeast Asia’s largest bank, and Granite Asia, an Asia-focused investment fund, are launching a new “first-of-its-kind” partnership to support new startups, underpinned by a new $110 million AI-focused IPO fund offered exclusively to DBS’s high-wealth clients.
The partnership, which will continue for three years, is part of a push to provide more capital for Asia’s startups, which have fewer funding options available to them compared to those based in more mature Western economies.
Southeast Asia’s funding scene has struggled in recent years as investors hold back amid a challenging macroeconomic environment and a mixed record of returns.
Lee and Tan, both of whom spent decades in Asia’s finance sector, have long been friends. “Jenny and I meet in all the strangest places—corridors, conferences, toilets,” Tan quips. This current partnership grew from a meeting in a conference in Qatar in 2025, where they discussed the growth of Asia’s tech and AI sector. “We were bemoaning the fact that there was so much talent, but not enough capital to fund these guys,” the DBS CEO recalls.
The new DBS-Granite Asia IPO fund will give investors “early access” to “high-growth AI-driven companies in the region,” and has gotten participation from clients based in Southeast Asia, South Asia and Europe, the two companies said in a statement. Granite Asia will manage the pooled capital, sending it to IPO-stage companies.
DBS, No. 7 on the Southeast Asia 500, has its “roots in development,” Tan says. The bank was founded in 1968 as the Development Bank of Singapore, set up to handle the industrial financing responsibilities of Singapore’s Economic Development Board.
“We were always about backing entrepreneurs, and supporting businesses from early- to mid-growth, and beyond,” Tan says.
DBS’ wealth clients will also gain from new opportunities to invest in growth assets and private markets. “That’s where quite a lot of the alpha can be created,” Tan explains, noting that the new partnership will likely generate greater returns on investment for DBS customers compared to more conservative assets like ETFs. “If you want alpha, you’ve got to go up the value chain, up the supply chain, to more upstream companies.”
Both Tan and Lee hope that their collaboration will create a larger ecosystem that enables Asia’s founders to thrive.
“This multi-asset partnership is deeply rooted in Asia,” Tan says. “It brings together the understanding of Asian needs, Asian capital, Asian purpose, Asian knowhow, Asian hardware and software.
“They all gel quite nicely together.”
