As Asia’s private markets continue to mature, capital allocation is becoming more disciplined and selective. Underwriting conversations are increasingly shifting from “potential” toward durability, focusing on duration risk, governance standards, and operating exposure within the real economy.

These themes were central to discussions at the Women’s Private Equity Summit APAC 2026 in Singapore.

On 2 February, Antares Ventures Partner Milena Nikolova joined Rosalind Bazany (Antler), Puiyan Leung (Vertex Ventures SE Asia & India), and Piruze Sabuncu (Square Peg) for the panel discussion, “Venture Capital: The Best Bets Will Be Made On…?”

The conversation explored how conviction forms in a more rigorous capital environment. For Antares, conviction begins with precise problem definition. A venture “bet” is not thematic enthusiasm, it is a thesis grounded in structural constraints, whether in energy systems, industrial heat, computing infrastructure, or urban resilience. As companies move from development to deployment, conviction is sharpened by operating feedback, customer validation, and execution discipline.

In deep tech, this evolution is particularly relevant. Managing long development cycles has always been part of the equation. What differentiates companies today is their ability to sustain performance in live environments, from maintaining uptime and integrating into complex infrastructure to delivering reliability under real operating pressure.

Read More: Conviction in Deep-Tech: Conversation with Michael Gryseels on The Impact at Scale Podcast

Across the summit, one theme was clear: attention often concentrates where answers are immediate, but durable value is built where trade-offs are complex and require sustained examination. As Asia’s private markets evolve, conviction is concentrating where businesses demonstrate structural resilience.

If your work intersects with deep tech, structural innovation, or long-duration capital in Asian growth markets, we welcome the conversation. Connect with us