Since its launch in 2012, TOP100 has been a platform for identifying and supporting the most promising startups in the region. Over the years, we witnessed remarkable growth stories like Gojek, Carousell, Carro, 99.co, and numerous others, nurtured through our program. As the startup ecosystem continues to evolve, so does TOP100, ensuring that the new generation of startups get access to regional visibility, investor connections, and business-matching opportunities.

Meet the next wave of innovators who are set to leave a lasting mark on the Southeast Asian startup landscape.

Anlyvis Limited (Hong Kong)

Anlyvis is transforming Edge AI management with its cutting-edge platform, enabling seamless deployment and management of AI solutions across industries. With an adaptable and scalable framework, Anlyvis is bridging the gap between AI and real-world applications.

ArmasTec (Singapore)

ArmasTec introduces the AireLevate, a lightweight, fabric-powered exosuit designed to reduce strain and boost endurance. By redefining workplace safety and performance, this innovation provides essential ergonomic support for physically demanding industries.

BIMASAKTI (Indonesia)

BIMASAKTI offers comprehensive home services, specialising in telecommunication solutions, security systems, and renewable energy. Their mission is to simplify access to critical home services and drive sustainability in households across the region.

Also read: Startup wins of the week: 10 milestones that matter

ConnectingDNA (Singapore)

ConnectingDNA is the Yelp of Wellness—a platform that connects consumer DNA data to curated wellness solutions, allowing individuals to achieve their health goals faster, safer, and easier. By leveraging genetics, ConnectingDNA personalizes health recommendations, creating a future where wellness is truly tailored to individuals.

ExpertOps AI (Singapore)

ExpertOps AI delivers AI-driven digital employees that automate workflows, boost productivity by 10x, and reduce staffing needs. Their intelligent AI workforce future-proofs businesses, allowing them to operate with higher efficiency and reduced overhead.

Good Bards (Singapore)

Good Bards brings Agentic AI to marketing. Their integrated marketing platform transforms business requirements into effective marketing objectives, making marketing execution smarter, more efficient, and results-driven.

SOMIN (Singapore)

SOMIN is an AI-powered marketing tool that helps brands track competitor ads, analyze audience behavior, and optimize digital campaigns. By providing actionable insights, SOMIN empowers companies to drive higher engagement and ROI.

SSL Logistics (Thailand)

SSL Logistics is the creator of The Truckers, a B2B cargo platform connecting truck owners with cargo owners for real-time freight matching. Their platform streamlines cross-border logistics with instant order confirmations, integrated payments, and a carbon emission tracker to help businesses reduce their environmental impact.

Also read: The startups of the TOP100 Growth Program 2024 [Updated]

Tasted Better (Thailand)

Tasted Better is a food innovation company creating low-carb, ketogenic, and healthy food products. Their award-winning offerings include low-carb breads, sugar-free waffles, and innovative pizza crusts, making healthy eating more accessible without sacrificing taste.

Tessera (Singapore)

Tessera is reshaping the future of ticketing, ensuring that the event experience begins from the moment a customer buys their ticket. With seamless and engaging ticketing solutions, Tessera enhances audience interaction and creates unforgettable event experiences.

Turing Space (Taiwan)

Turing Space develops Decentralized Identity (DID) technology and provides e-credential solutions to over 400+ authorities and 40+ governments, including WHO and UNESCO. Their goal? Creating a borderless digital trust network that ensures secure, verifiable identities across global industries.

 

Unlocking opportunities through TOP100

These startups gain access to a range of branding, networking, and investment opportunities designed to accelerate their growth and visibility. 

Beyond digital visibility, startups get exclusive networking opportunities with investors and industry leaders through e27 PRO Connect, matched investor meetings at Echelon Connect, and a high-traffic exhibition booth in the TOP100 Zone at Echelon Singapore 2025. 

The TOP10 startups will also get a chance to showcase onstage at Echelon Singapore. live on the Echelon TOP100 stage. Additionally, selected participants gain access to closed-door networking sessions with ASEAN government agencies, helping facilitate market expansion and business opportunities.

Excited to witness the future of innovation? Get your tickets now and meet the startups shaping the future at Echelon Singapore!

The post The startups of the TOP100 2025 appeared first on e27.

The post Bitcoin falls to US$81,300 as gold shines ahead of FOMC meeting 2025 appeared first on e27.

Rakuten Capital, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of Japanese internet conglomerate Rakuten, has announced the appointment of Saemin Ahn as managing partner. Ahn rejoins the firm after a stint at 500 Global, marking his return to Rakuten’s investment operations, Global Venturing reported.

Ahn was instrumental in establishing Rakuten’s CVC initiative, which was launched as Rakuten Ventures in 2014. Over nearly a decade, he helped steer the fund’s early investments in technology startups across Asia and the US.

Notable investments under his leadership include Carousell, a Singapore-based consumer marketplace for second-hand goods, and OneSignal, a push notification technology provider. Ahn also served as a board member for both companies until his departure from Rakuten Ventures in January 2023.

Following his tenure at Rakuten Ventures, Ahn joined 500 Global, a prominent venture capital firm with investments in tech startups worldwide. Based in Singapore, he focused on Southeast Asian (SEA) markets during his time with the firm.

His return to Rakuten Capital comes as the company continues to expand its global investment portfolio. The unit’s focus spans sectors including fintech, transport, consumer technology, and energy.

Also Read: Bitcoin falls to US$81,300 as gold shines ahead of FOMC meeting 2025

Recent activity includes participation in the pre-Series B funding round of Leal, a Colombian developer of AI-driven customer engagement platforms, and the Series B extension round for Honest, an Indonesian digital financial services provider.

Rakuten Capital’s activity reflects the conglomerate’s broader ambitions in digital services and technology. In Singapore, its digital reading arm, Rakuten Kobo, recently launched Kobo Plus, an all-you-can-read subscription service offering access to over two million eBooks and more than 300,000 audiobooks.

According to a HardwareZone report, the service costs S$9.99 per month and offers a 14-day free trial.

The launch comes amid growing demand for digital content, particularly in Asia. According to Kobo data, Singapore has seen a 31 per cent increase in active digital readers, indicating a shift in consumer behaviour towards e-books and audiobooks.

While the physical book market faces challenges, the global e-book market is expected to grow to US$22.76 billion by 2030, driven by a compound annual growth rate of 4.78 per cent. Asia is projected to lead this growth.

—

Image Credit: Saemin Ahn’s LinkedIn

The post Saemin Ahn returns to Rakuten Capital as firm continues to expand its global investment portfolio appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based growth-stage investor Venturi Partners has announced the launch of its second fund, with a target of US$225 million and a hard cap of US$250 million.

The investment platform aims for a first close of US$130 million by the Q2 of CY 2025.

Fund II aims to continue Venturi’s strategy of backing consumer brands that are disrupting their respective sectors across India and Southeast Asia by developing innovative products and services for the evolving Asian consumer.

Building on the success of its initial fund, which raised US$180 million in April 2022 from prominent families in Europe and Asia, the new fund will continue to focus on high-growth areas such as retail, education, healthcare, and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG).

Also Read: Livspace raises US$90M in Series D round led by Kharis Capital, Venturi Partners

Nicholas Cator, founder of Venturi Partners, stated, “Our investment philosophy remains unchanged. We back brands that create meaningful change and deliver innovative solutions to consumers. We take an active ownership approach with our portfolio companies, working closely with founders to help unlock growth and scale their businesses. With this second fund, we are excited to continue partnering with ambitious entrepreneurs across the region.”

Venturi’s first fund has a portfolio of seven high-growth consumer companies spanning education, food and beverage subscription services, beauty and personal care, retail, and home interiors. Notable investments include Livspace, Country Delight, Believe, Pickup Coffee, DALI, K-12 Techno, and JQR.

Founded in 2020, Venturi Partners is an Asia-focused investment platform that empowers consumer-facing businesses to establish disruptive brands in India and Southeast Asia. The firm offers growth funding to consumer-centric, purpose-driven brands within sectors like retail, education, healthcare and FMCG that demonstrate a commitment to generating a positive global impact.

Venturi Partners’s investment platform is designed for families seeking to participate in Asia’s long-term consumer growth trends. This platform is founded on shared values and enduring partnerships, with a core objective of providing operational value-add to entrepreneurs shaping the future leading brands in Asia.

The post Venturi Partners launches US$225M Fund II for Asian consumer brands appeared first on e27.

Digital marketing is riding the AI wave, and it’s not just about flashy buzzwords. With the rise of large language models, businesses—big and small—now have a suite of tools to automate, optimise, and personalise their marketing efforts. But with multiple AI strategies available, which one really fits your business?

Let’s break down four key approaches shaking up the scene: LLM prompting, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), fine-tuning, and AI agents.

LLM prompting: Your fast track to creative content

For startups and small businesses, LLM prompting is the easiest way to dive into AI-powered content creation. Whether it’s ad copy, blog posts, or social media updates, a well-crafted prompt can unlock a flood of creative ideas.

However, don’t expect a plug-and-play solution. LLMs are great for ideation, but they’re working off a static knowledge base—meaning they might miss out on the latest trends and require a human touch for fact-checking and context.

Pro tip: Feed your LLM with structured inputs like brand guidelines, historical campaign data, or key marketing frameworks to get more tailored results.

RAG: Real-time data meets intelligent marketing

For marketers who live by the numbers, RAG systems bring a whole new level of dynamism. Unlike standard LLMs, RAG marries AI-generated content with live data, ensuring that your marketing insights are both timely and relevant.

Imagine running a campaign that adapts in real-time to shifting market trends—whether it’s seasonal events or regional consumer behaviour—RAG has you covered.

Consider this: a campaign referencing a trending political figure or seasonal event will resonate better if it pulls the latest data rather than relying solely on historical information. In essence, RAG transforms your marketing strategy into a data-driven engine that keeps pace with a rapidly evolving landscape.

Pro tip: Try playing with free-to-try RAGs for marketing, like DAPTA AI or SOMONITOR to understand if they could bring significantly more in-depth responses in your daily marketing routines than context-aware LLM prompting.

Also Read: How AI and automation are shaping the future of work

Fine-tuning: Locking in your brand’s unique voice

Generic AI can only take you so far. For brands that demand consistency, fine-tuning LLMs on proprietary data is the way to go. By training your AI on past campaigns, customer interactions, and specific brand guidelines, you ensure that every piece of content stays true to your identity. Think of it like customising a suit—the better the fit, the more confident you feel.

Even global giants like McDonald’s benefit from this approach, as their vast digital footprint allows their AI to churn out highly polished, brand-consistent material. For many businesses, though, finding the right balance between cost and customization remains key.

Pro tip: Open your favourite LLM and try prompting, “Generate a square banner for a Coca-Cola ad.” You’ll likely get a well-designed and polished banner. Now, try the same with “Generate a square banner for a Gojek ad.” Since Gojek is a more localised brand and less familiar to the LLM, the result may be significantly weaker.

Because the LLM has much less knowledge about Gojek compared to Coca-Cola, companies like Gojek could benefit greatly from fine-tuning their AI for ad creative generation. By training the model with more Gojek-specific content, they can elevate their AI-generated creatives to the same quality level as Coca-Cola’s, ensuring brand consistency and stronger engagement.

AI agents: The autonomous marketing mavericks

Moving beyond content generation, AI agents are poised to revolutionise marketing execution. These aren’t just recommendation engines—they’re proactive tools that can interact with platforms (like Meta) to launch campaigns, optimise bidding strategies, and adjust content in real time based on engagement metrics.

For companies scaling up their marketing efforts, AI agents offer a powerful way to automate routine tasks while still leaving room for strategic human oversight. This leap towards autonomous marketing can be a game changer for businesses looking to transition from zero to one.

Pro tip: Today, many AI vendors label their solutions as ‘Agents,’ but don’t be misled. Ask yourself: Does this software truly interact with other systems to complete a task from start to finish? Does it engage in multi-step reasoning across several interactions, or does it simply generate a single output? If the answer is NO, then it’s most likely a RAG system, not a true AI agent.

Also Read: AI agents redefine art: Unlocking boundless creative possibilities in a new digital era

Choosing the right AI strategy for your business

There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to AI in marketing. Small businesses might start with LLM prompting or dip into AI agents to get an edge, while larger enterprises can leverage RAG for its real-time insights and fine-tuning for brand consistency.

Ultimately, AI isn’t here to replace human marketers—it’s here to amplify creativity and strategic decision-making, letting you focus on the big picture while the tech handles the grunt work.

In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, the key is to match your AI strategy with your business’s scale, resources, and goals. Whether you’re refining your ad copy or automating entire campaigns, the future of marketing is all about using the right tool for the job.

—

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

Join us on Instagram, Facebook, X, and LinkedIn to stay connected.

Image courtesy: Canva Pro

The post LLM prompting, fine-tuning, RAG, or AI agents: Which AI is better for marketing? appeared first on e27.