Temasek

After writing down hundreds of millions on failed startups including FTX, Temasek cut startup investing even as it backed AI chips, materials AI and quantum computing in 2025.

Who they are

Temasek appears in the coverage as Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund and a major technology investor, leading or joining large private rounds while also publishing digital-economy research with Google and Bain. Its portfolio role spans enterprise software, AI infrastructure, healthcare, quantum computing, crypto and earlier consumer-tech rescues such as SoundCloud.

The recent arc

Coverage peaked in late 2022 amid the FTX collapse, then shifted from the earlier crypto-heavy investment cycle to a more cautious but selective approach. A June 2025 Financial Times report said Temasek had cut back startup investments after writing down hundreds of millions of dollars tied to failed portfolio companies, including FTX; its earlier investments in Amber Group and Immutable place that reassessment against a broader period of crypto and NFT exposure.】【：】【“】【

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The tension

The central tension is between loss discipline after high-profile startup failures and continued participation in expensive frontier-technology rounds. Temasek’s pullback followed the FTX write-downs, yet it remains alongside investors such as BlackRock, Baillie Gifford, NEA, Bullhound Capital, Triatomic Capital and Qatar Investment Authority in areas where valuations and technical execution risk remain high.

Why it matters

If this pattern holds, Temasek’s activity may be a useful signal of how a large long-term investor reallocates from broad startup exposure toward infrastructure and strategically important technologies. The coverage does not establish how durable that retrenchment will be: the Quest Global stake remains reported as talks, while the completed AI and quantum financings show that caution has not meant disengagement.

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