A man passes the city skyline during the COVID-19 outbreak, in Singapore on Sep 29, 2021. (Photo: Reuters/Edgar Su) SINGAPORE: Southeast Asian startups are enjoying a boom in fundraising exercises by venture and buyout funds that are chasing bigger returns and turning away from regulatory turmoil in Chinese markets, even at the risk of slower growth. Firms such as Insignia Ventures Partners and SoftBank-backed East Ventures are among those that have raised a combined total of billions for startups over the past year as the region's 650 million people take to digital platforms.