Day: June 30, 2026

The current correction in the digital asset market reflects a structural shift in investor behaviour rather than a random price fluctuation.

Bitcoin recently fell by 0.84 per cent over a 24-hour period to settle at US$59,526.31, which slightly outpaced the broader market decline of 0.94 per cent. This synchronised downward movement highlights how tightly integrated crypto assets have become with traditional financial markets, demonstrating an 85 per cent correlation with the S&P 500 index.

Institutional capital is actively rotating out of digital assets and back into traditional equities, creating a profound liquidity drain. Last week, exchange-traded funds tracking spot Bitcoin experienced US$1.79 billion in net outflows, marking the second-largest weekly redemption phase since these financial products launched.

A single-day redemption of US$445 million occurred on June 26, which provided clear evidence that institutional investors are reducing exposure. Over a longer horizon, these funds shed roughly US$6 billion over six weeks, while adjacent market reports indicate that total exits reached approximately US$6.4 billion over a 30-day period. Consequently, total assets under management for these investment vehicles plummeted from US$105.32 billion down to US$81.83 billion within one month, demonstrating that the structural buying pressure that catalysed previous market rallies has completely reversed.

This aggressive capital flight directly coincides with a broader macroeconomic tightening cycle and mounting geopolitical risks. The Federal Reserve continues to maintain a hawkish stance, with officials projecting a median interest rate forecast of 3.8 per cent for 2026. These higher-for-longer interest rate expectations have consistently strengthened the dollar, which naturally dampens demand for speculative, risk-sensitive assets.

This macro pressure intensified as fragile ceasefire negotiations between the United States and Iran stoked fears of conflict escalation, prompting global market participants to seek safety in cash. Although equity futures staged a minor recovery on June 29 after both nations temporarily pulled back from military strikes, the prolonged period of regional tension has left energy markets on edge and dragged European indices down by an average of one per cent.

The combination of institutional selling and macroeconomic headwinds triggered an immediate unwinding of high-risk leverage within crypto derivatives markets. Over a recent 24-hour window, the market suffered US$44.96 million in total liquidations, with long positions accounting for an overwhelming US$39.77 million of that total. This rapid liquidation sequence forced the asset price below its critical 200-week moving average of approximately US$62,383, which technicians widely respect as a key long-term trend indicator. The steep decline means Bitcoin now trades roughly 30 per cent lower in 2026, leaving it roughly 50 per cent below its historical peak established in October 2025.

Also Read: Why the 4.1% PCE inflation print just turned crypto into a high beta risk asset

While the overarching market structure remains transitionally bearish, certain technical indicators suggest that the current selling pressure might be reaching a temporary exhaustion point. The 14-day relative strength index plunged to 30.7, placing the asset on the verge of deeply oversold territory.

This technical condition indicates that if the current support zone between US$58,000 and US$59,000 holds firm over the coming days, a short-term relief bounce toward the US$62,000 level could easily manifest. Conversely, a definitive break below the US$58,000 threshold would likely trigger a fresh wave of liquidations, risking a rapid cascade down toward US$56,000.

A sustainable market recovery depends entirely on a stabilisation of fund flows and an easing of macroeconomic pressures. The broader financial landscape is experiencing a massive rotation, with Wall Street shifting capital out of underperforming assets and certain mega-cap technology equities to fund small-cap firms and blue-chip sectors.

Within the technology sector itself, a distinct wedge has formed between software hyperscalers struggling with infrastructure costs and memory component manufacturers like Micron Technology, which recently surged to outpace Meta and Tesla in valuation. If the massive capital rotation into chip makers and artificial intelligence infrastructure slows down, or if the Federal Reserve delivers a more dovish policy signal, capital may eventually flow back into the digital asset space.

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I keep a small notebook by my bed. Not for ideas. Just things I don’t want to forget.

Last week I wrote: “What does this place look like in 2040?”

Not for a deck. Not for a client. I don’t have kids. The usual anchors people use to think about the future, school fees, inheritance, legacy through bloodline, none of that applies to me. So I find other anchors. Climate is one of them. It’s personal in a way that’s hard to explain at a conference but easy to feel at midnight.

I’ve been watching SEA climate capital closely for a few years now. And a number in a recent Tracxn report stopped me cold.

Over 900 backers have put money into climate tech in SEA. You can count the ones who kept showing up on one hand.

Let that sit for a second.

The crowd that showed up once

900 is an impressive number until you look at what it actually means. One check. One conference announcement. One ESG box ticked somewhere in an LP deck. Then back to whatever they were doing before.

The ones who kept showing up are SEEDS Capital, Entrepreneur First, 100×100 (formerly Wavemaker Impact, rebranded June 2026 after spinning out as an independent fund manager with a fresh US$100M mandate to build 50 climate companies across SEA and India), SGInnovate and East Ventures. Between them, they’ve done the unglamorous work of showing up round after round across companies that haven’t yet become household names.

That’s not a coincidence. That’s conviction. And conviction in climate is rare because the timeline is long, the exits are slow, and the narrative keeps shifting between optimism and panic depending on what’s burning that week.

The others weren’t lying about caring. They just weren’t prepared for what caring actually costs in this space.

Also Read: Investing in impact: High-growth tech for climate and community

What the data says about where the money went

The top five funded sectors are all infrastructure plays. Solid waste, smart grid, energy efficiency, air pollution, renewable energy. The top five funded companies are almost all in electric mobility. Beam, Neuron, Dat Bike, ALVA. Hard assets, visible units, clear revenue models.

This isn’t surprising. Capital backs what it can underwrite. Infrastructure and mobility fit the frame. What doesn’t fit — adaptation, resilience, the harder climate problems without a clean SaaS analogy — stays unfunded.

Geographically, three-quarters of all climate capital went to Singapore. Indonesia and Vietnam are emerging, but the map is thin outside the main hubs.

2026 so far has been even quieter. Four rounds. US$17M. Down 59 per cent from the same period last year.

The crowd didn’t just come once. Some of them have already left.

What the data can’t see

Here’s the thing about a report that tracks 900 backers. It only sees what gets disclosed. Formal rounds. Announced deals. Tracxn does this well. But there’s a whole layer of capital doing real ground-level work that never shows up in any database.

Funds like Bali Investment Club, Indonesia-focused, impact-first, backing waste, agritech and climate ventures at the earliest stages in a market most Singapore-based funds fly over, won’t show up in the top five. They’re not doing 10 rounds in the data. They’re doing the first round in places nobody else is looking.

That gap between what the data captures and what’s actually happening on the ground is where a lot of the real conviction lives.

Also Read: Climate tech’s shift from doing good to doing well

What the five who stayed understand

100×100 doesn’t just write checks. They co-found companies from scratch, sit inside them, find the first customers, and build the team. That’s a different level of commitment than a seed round from a platform investor diversifying into climate for a season.

The difference between the handful who stayed and the hundreds who didn’t isn’t access to data or deal flow. It’s tolerance for a long, uncomfortable, uncertain road. Climate doesn’t reward impatience. The founders building in this space know that. The capital that stays knows that too.

The capital that came once was looking for a climate story. The capital that stayed is building one.

The notebook question

I still haven’t answered what I wrote last week. What does this place look like in 2040?

It depends on which kind of capital wins. The kind that showed up for the photo. Or the kind that’s still here when there’s nothing to announce.

I know which one I’m watching.

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Kazakhstan is not a country most Southeast Asian founders think about when mapping expansion routes. But Magzhan Madiyev, CEO of Astana Hub, wants to change that fast. In seven years, the organisation has helped transform a country with virtually no venture culture into one where 2,200 companies generate US$2 billion annually, tech exports have grown twentyfold to US$1.14 billion, and the nation’s first AI unicorn, Higgsfield, is now valued at over US$3 billion.

The engine behind this shift is not government largesse; it is a calculated infrastructure of talent pipelines, global accelerators, and regulatory architecture built to attract serious founders and investors.

Also Read: How Big Sky Capital and Astana Hub are helping startups scale across Southeast Asia’s technology ecosystem

With Astana Hub opening a presence in Kuala Lumpur, partnerships deepening with Temasek and Quest Ventures, and interest growing from Singaporean investors, Central Eurasia’s most ambitious tech bet is increasingly looking in Southeast Asia’s direction. Here is what Madiyev had to say.

Below are edited excerpts:

Building a startup ecosystem from scratch in an emerging market is notoriously difficult. What was the single biggest structural barrier Kazakhstan had to overcome?

When Astana Hub was conceived, Kazakhstan’s venture market was virtually non-existent. There was no venture culture, no capital, no critical mass of entrepreneurs, and no founder community. The ecosystem was dominated by companies chasing government contracts or running small e-commerce operations.

We had to fight on multiple fronts simultaneously: changing the mindset of specialists, creating innovation-friendly legislation, and overcoming government bureaucracy. None of it was quick.

The results speak for themselves: Almaty has entered the global TOP10 Rising Star ecosystems according to Dealroom’s 2026 index. Astana Hub now hosts over 2,200 companies generating roughly US$2 billion annually, and Kazakhstan’s tech exports surpassed US$1.14 billion in 2025.

Tax incentives can create artificial ecosystems that collapse once the support dries up. How are you ensuring startups are genuinely market-ready?

Every successful tech ecosystem, be it Silicon Valley, Israel, or Singapore, has had government backing at some point. The question is how you deploy it.

We did not ask the state to pour billions into the industry. We asked only for tax incentives and introduced a 1 per cent revenue contribution from participants to reinvest back into the ecosystem. That, combined with full infrastructure, such as education, acceleration, regional access points, and  pathways to Silicon Valley, meant all parties were satisfied without creating dangerous dependency.

The incentives will continue, but they will increasingly push participants to build globally competitive products. If we do not develop our own champions, our economy simply becomes a market for international vendors who are often not even fully taxed here.

How many startups have completed your programmes, and what does the success rate actually look like?

Astana Hub is not a single accelerator; it is an ecosystem of more than 50 programmes serving audiences from school students to institutional investors. Metrics vary accordingly.

Also Read: Big Tech’s efficiency paradox: Record profits, record layoffs

For startup-specific programmes, around 40 per cent of graduates continue building and scaling after completion. Across the broader ecosystem, participant companies have collectively attracted more than US$945 million in investment and generated US$4.9 billion in cumulative revenue over seven years, with a growing footprint in Central Asia, the Middle East, Europe, and North America.

What does the alem.ai Center offer that a startup could not get from Singapore, Dubai, or London?

The alem.ai centre is a vertically integrated AI ecosystem under one roof, something we believe is unique globally. It runs a continuous talent pipeline from children aged 12, through adult re-skilling, to dedicated founder tracks and Big Tech lab placements, all in one building.

That building is also an iconic structure in Central Asia, a deliberate signal from the country’s leadership about where Kazakhstan is placing its long-term bet. In August, we will host part of the International Olympiad in Artificial Intelligence, welcoming national teams from over 60 countries.

Are graduates staying in Kazakhstan or leaving for higher-paying markets?

We do not frame this as brain drain; the world is becoming borderless, and what matters is building a strong community. We actively help founders go abroad to attract investment and launch products in the US, the UAE, and China. Most of them still build their teams and R&D centres back in Kazakhstan.

The most powerful argument for staying is Higgsfield, Kazakhstan’s first AI unicorn, now valued at over US$3 billion, built in Almaty with a team of 300 engineers whose average age is 25. You do not need to leave to build something world-class.

Which international partners have delivered real outcomes, not just signed MOUs?

Several partnerships have moved well beyond paper.

With Google, we launched the Silkway Accelerator — seven batches in, with graduates now carrying a combined valuation exceeding US$500 million.

With OpenAI and Stanford, we ran the AI Leaders programme across nine countries, reaching 800-plus executives.

With Telegram, we are launching the AI Olympiad and ICPC Bootcamp, and the company is opening an AI Lab at alem.ai.

With Draper University and Alchemist Accelerator, Tim Draper has personally invested US$2 million into Kazakhstani startups.

With Apple, a training centre is operating within the ecosystem.

Is there a genuine pipeline of Southeast Asian investors and startups looking at Kazakhstan?

Yes, though the potential has not been fully realised yet. We are opening a presence in Kuala Lumpur, working with Temasek and Quest Ventures, and seeing growing interest from Singaporean investors.

The roadblock is not a lack of opportunity, but a lack of awareness. Southeast Asia is very familiar with its own corridor; Central Eurasia remains undiscovered despite its talent base and fast-growing digital economy. That is precisely what we are working to fix.

Kazakhstan borders both Russia and China. How do you navigate that geopolitically when attracting Western partners?

Kazakhstan is a neutral country by design and we have turned that into a strategic advantage. After 2022, more than 500 global tech companies relocated here from Russia, bringing significant developer talent. From China, we adopt hardware and industrial technology. From the US, we attract capital and infrastructure, including NVIDIA chips. Our most active international hub is in Silicon Valley, where resident companies have attracted over US$300 million in investment.

Also Read: Is the AI industry profitable? Yes, just not where you’re looking

It is a puzzle only a country with Kazakhstan’s geography, neutrality, and foreign policy could assemble.

Venture capital in Central Asia is thin. Are there any homegrown VC funds of meaningful scale?

Kazakhstan leads the venture market across Central Asia and the CIS. The recently established fund of funds, Alem Capital Management, has a first fund of US$100 million, 70 per cent from private capital, with a target of attracting US$1 billion in venture investment over five years. Active local investors include Freedom Holding, MOST Ventures, Big Sky, Astana Hub Ventures, MA7 Ventures, and the Silkroad Angels Club.

What sectors are producing Kazakhstan’s most promising startups, and is it market demand or government money driving them?

AI, edutech, and fintech, and they are driven by talent, not government priorities. That distinction matters. Startups chasing government contracts stay domestic. Kazakhstan’s market is simply not large enough to produce valuations above US$100 million on its own. Unicorns are built for global markets. Higgsfield proves that.

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Singapore-based medtech company Biobot Surgical has raised SGD 20 million (about US$15.6 million) in a financing round led by ClavystBio, with participation from ZIG Ventures, as it looks to expand global adoption of its robotic-assisted prostate cancer care platform and enter the US market.

The company develops Mona Lisa, a platform that combines robotic needle guidance with MRI-ultrasound image fusion for targeted prostate biopsy and focal ablation procedures. The system is designed for transperineal prostate interventions, an approach increasingly preferred by clinicians seeking to reduce infection risks and improve access to hard-to-reach lesions.

Also Read: The role of biotech in taking India from developing to developed

The raise puts Biobot among a small but growing group of Southeast Asian medtech firms attempting to move beyond domestic or regional deployment and compete in heavily regulated global healthcare markets. For Singapore, where state-linked capital and research institutions have long sought to turn biomedical research into commercial companies, Biobot’s next phase will be watched as a test of whether homegrown medical robotics can scale internationally.

A Singapore medtech moving into a larger global fight

Prostate cancer is among the most commonly diagnosed cancers in men globally, with more than 1.4 million new cases each year. In the US, around one in eight men will develop prostate cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society.

Diagnosis has traditionally relied on transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsy, but the field has been shifting towards transperineal procedures, where the prostate is accessed through the skin between the scrotum and anus rather than through the rectum. The change is being driven by lower infection risk, better targeting of certain areas of the prostate, and improved compatibility with image-guided and robotic workflows.

This is the clinical shift Biobot is betting on. Its Mona Lisa platform supports physicians in planning and guiding prostate needle placement using fused MRI and ultrasound images. The goal is to make biopsies and focal therapies more accurate and reproducible, while potentially allowing some procedures to move from hospital operating rooms into ambulatory surgery centres and, eventually, office-based settings.

Biobot says it has deployed more than 80 systems globally and supported over 30,000 patients, with adoption across centres in Europe and Asia-Pacific. The company also points to more than 50 real-world clinical publications supporting its use in targeted transperineal biopsy and precision needle placement.

For a Singapore-based device company, those numbers matter. Medical robotics startups often struggle to bridge the gap between promising engineering and repeatable commercial adoption. Hospitals are cautious buyers, doctors need training, reimbursement can be complex, and regulatory pathways vary widely across markets. The US, while large and lucrative, is also one of the most difficult healthcare markets to enter.

Funding to build evidence and a US beachhead

Biobot plans to use the capital to accelerate international commercialisation, strengthen clinical and economic evidence, and build the commercial infrastructure needed for the next stage of growth. A key part of the plan is a focused US entry strategy.

Also Read: Asia’s biotech boom: Innovation, investment, and a new era of discovery

As part of that effort, the company will work with Fogarty Innovation, a California-based medtech accelerator and advisory organisation, to identify priority clinical segments, engage clinicians, and shape its commercialisation approach.

The US market is particularly important because prostate cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment represent a large and mature specialty segment. At the same time, any new device platform must prove not only that it works clinically, but also that it fits into physician workflows, hospital budgets, and reimbursement systems.

“The objective is not simply to place systems, but to build Mona Lisa into a precision intervention platform for prostate care, connecting imaging, robotic guidance, procedure data and focal treatment workflows,” said Sim Kok Hwee, Deputy Chairman and CEO of Biobot Surgical.

That positioning is important. Biobot is not pitching Mona Lisa merely as a biopsy robot, but as a platform that can sit across the prostate cancer care pathway, from diagnosis to targeted treatment. If it can execute, this could give the company a broader role in clinical decision-making and longitudinal patient management.

Why this matters for Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has produced relatively few globally visible medical robotics companies, despite rising healthcare demand, ageing populations, and growing investment in specialist care. The region’s healthtech funding has historically leaned towards telemedicine, digital health platforms, insurance technology, and clinic management software. Hardware-heavy medtech, especially robotics, is harder to build because it requires deep clinical validation, manufacturing discipline, regulatory expertise, and long sales cycles.

Singapore is the regional exception. Its combination of public research funding, hospital networks, biomedical manufacturing capabilities, and investors such as Temasek-backed ClavystBio has made it the most likely base for Southeast Asian medtech companies with global ambitions.

ClavystBio was set up by Temasek to help commercialise biotech and medtech ideas from Asia. Its involvement in Biobot signals continued interest in backing companies that can move beyond laboratory innovation into regulated international markets.

“Biobot has the right combination of clinical relevance, international traction, and platform potential,” said Anselm Tan, medtech lead at ClavystBio. “The market is moving toward prostate procedures that are safer, more precise, and more reproducible.”

For the wider region, Biobot’s progress could also have practical implications. Prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment are uneven across Southeast Asia, with gaps in access to specialists, imaging, and advanced intervention technologies. If robotic-guided workflows can lower procedural complexity and support more standardised care, they may eventually help expand access beyond top-tier hospitals, though cost and training remain significant barriers.

The road ahead

Biobot’s next challenge is execution. Its installed base and clinical publications give it a foundation, but scaling in medtech requires more than product adoption at leading centres. The company will need to show that Mona Lisa can deliver measurable clinical and economic value across different healthcare settings.

Also Read: Are biomedicine and healthcare coming of age?

That means convincing hospitals and urologists that the platform improves biopsy accuracy, reduces complications, shortens workflows, or enables new treatment models. It also means building support, training, and service capabilities in markets where device reliability and physician confidence are essential.

The company’s US strategy will be especially critical. Success there could validate the platform globally and strengthen Biobot’s credibility across Europe and Asia Pacific. Failure to gain traction, however, would underline the difficulty of turning Southeast Asian medtech engineering into a global commercial business.

For now, the new funding gives Biobot room to push that ambition. In a region where startup stories are still dominated by software, fintech, and consumer platforms, its progress offers a different narrative: a Singapore-born medical robotics company trying to prove that Southeast Asia can build complex healthcare technology for the world.

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Thailand-founded enterprise AI company Amity has opened a Singapore office and AI Research & Application Center (ARAC), placing the city-state at the centre of its regional expansion, product development, and planned path to a public listing in 2027.

The move follows Amity’s US$100 million Series D round, led by EDBI, the investment arm operating under SG Growth Capital, alongside Asia Partners and SMDV. Existing and new backers, including CMLIM Capital, also participated.

Also Read: Amity’s US$100M raise signals Southeast Asia’s AI coming of age

Amity said the Singapore hub will serve as its Southeast Asia regional headquarters and the global base for its AI research capabilities. The company is targeting US$200 million in annualised revenue by the end of 2026, after surpassing US$100 million in annualised revenue in 2025. It claims to have grown more than tenfold since 2022.

For Amity, Singapore offers more than a prestige address. It gives the company proximity to regional enterprise buyers, access to AI talent, a recognised regulatory environment, and a launchpad for acquisitions across Southeast Asia and Europe. The company is deploying its latest capital across three areas: accelerating agentic AI development, pursuing strategic M&A, and hiring engineering and commercial talent in Singapore.

Why Singapore matters for Amity

Amity’s bet comes as Southeast Asian enterprises move from AI experimentation to deployment. Banks, telcos, retailers, healthcare groups, logistics players, and large consumer companies are under pressure to automate customer engagement, extract more value from data, and reduce operational complexity across multilingual markets.

This is where Amity wants to position itself. The company’s ARAC will focus on vertical AI models trained on industry-specific data rather than generic datasets. Its current focus areas include agentic AI — systems that can execute end-to-end business processes with limited human intervention — and models tailored for sectors such as retail, telecommunications, and services.

The company argues that Asian enterprises need AI products built for fragmented channels, language diversity, and local business workflows. That is a valid pain point in Southeast Asia, where a single enterprise may operate across markets with different languages, messaging platforms, payment habits, regulations, and consumer behaviours.

“When we started Amity, we believed that Asian enterprises deserved AI that is built for their reality, not tools designed for other markets and retrofitted for ours,” said Korawad Chearavanont, Executive Chairman and Founder of Amity. “Singapore is where that belief comes to life.”

That statement also reveals the company’s broader ambition: to become a regional enterprise AI platform rather than just another SaaS vendor.

The market opportunity

Amity is entering a fast-growing but crowded market. Enterprise AI, customer experience automation, communications analytics, and vertical AI software are attracting capital globally, as companies search for tools that can move beyond chatbots and dashboards into workflow execution.

Global estimates vary, but the enterprise AI market is widely projected to become a multi-hundred-billion-dollar opportunity by the end of the decade. For Southeast Asia specifically, the prize is broader than software revenue alone. A widely cited Kearney estimate has suggested that AI could contribute up to US$1 trillion to Southeast Asia’s economy by 2030.

Also Read: AI user roles surge as Singapore pivots from specialist to mainstream hires

That economic upside is drawing both global players and regional challengers. Microsoft, Google, AWS, Salesforce, OpenAI-linked partners, and a wave of specialised AI startups are all targeting enterprise budgets. Amity’s differentiation will depend on whether it can turn local market knowledge, vertical datasets, and acquisitions into products that large companies are willing to buy at scale.

The company already has some distribution. It claims its platforms serve over 10 million monthly active users across more than 20,000 organisations in over 20 countries. Its portfolio includes Amity Solutions, Tollring, EGG Digital, Amity Accentix, and Amity-Nordstar, covering customer experience, analytics, communications, and voice capabilities.

More recently, Tollring entered into a definitive agreement to acquire UK-based Code Software. If completed, the transaction would expand Amity’s presence across the UK, US, EU, and ANZ markets, especially in communications analytics and recording.

What Southeast Asia could gain

The Singapore hub could bring several benefits to the region if Amity delivers on its plans. First, it could create higher-value AI roles locally. Amity plans to hire across AI research, engineering, and go-to-market functions in Singapore, with up to 60 roles expected over the next three years.

Second, the move could deepen Southeast Asia’s enterprise AI capabilities. Much of the region still depends on imported software stacks designed primarily for Western enterprises. A regional AI player building for Asian languages, regulations, and operating environments could help narrow that gap.

Third, Amity’s Singapore base could strengthen the region’s startup exit and scaling narrative. Southeast Asia has produced strong consumer internet and fintech companies, but fewer enterprise software companies with global ambitions. If Amity reaches its revenue target and lists publicly in 2027, it could become a reference point for the region’s AI and SaaS ecosystem.

Fourth, Amity’s acquisition strategy may create liquidity and growth options for smaller software companies in Southeast Asia. The company has said it will pursue M&A targeting high-potential software businesses in Europe and Southeast Asia. For regional founders building niche B2B software, this could open another route beyond venture funding or slow organic growth.

A tougher phase begins

The challenge is execution. Raising the largest AI/ML round in Southeast Asia for Q1 2026 gives Amity a strong balance sheet, but enterprise AI is not an easy market. Sales cycles are long, integration is complex, and buyers are increasingly sceptical of AI tools that do not produce measurable outcomes.

Agentic AI also carries operational and regulatory risks. Enterprises will need systems that are secure, auditable, and reliable across markets. Singapore’s policy environment may help Amity build credibility here, especially as the country pushes its refreshed National AI Strategy and National AI Council.

EDBI’s backing is also strategically significant. For Singapore, attracting Amity reinforces its ambition to be a regional AI hub not only for multinational labs but also for Southeast Asian technology companies scaling outward.

“Singapore provides a strong foundation for companies looking to develop and scale enterprise AI, with access to deep talent, a trusted and collaborative innovation ecosystem, and strong regional connectivity,” said Yeung Chia Li, Senior Partner at EDBI.

Also Read: Southeast Asia’s AI blind spot is getting bigger

For Amity, Singapore is now the test bed for a bigger question: can a Southeast Asian enterprise AI company build products that compete not only regionally, but globally? If it can, the company’s 2027 IPO plan may be more than a fundraising milestone. It could mark one of the region’s first major enterprise AI scale-up stories.

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