Meta announced the successful completion of its inaugural Llama Incubator Program Demo Day, underscoring its commitment to driving open-source AI innovation in Singapore. After a rigorous evaluation process, three winning teams — CREX, MyRepublic Broadband, and Straits Interactive — were selected, along with three runners-up: AgriG8, IntentAI, and i-Sprint Innovations. Public sector teams from the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), Land Transport Authority (LTA), and Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) also showcased their innovations.
“At Meta, we see ourselves as an ecosystem partner, working to advance AI capabilities and make their benefits widely accessible. The Llama Incubator Program exemplifies this drive, and we appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with the Singapore government on this initiative. We are proud to support the Smart Nation 2.0 vision—empowering local small businesses and attracting startups to build and innovate in Singapore,” said Sandhya Devanathan, Vice President – India & Southeast Asia at Meta.
Partnerships power Singapore’s next wave of AI innovation
Meta’s Llama Incubator Program provided startups, SMEs, and public sector teams in Singapore with mentoring, technical resources, and funding to help them develop practical AI solutions. The program was delivered in close partnership with the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Government Technology Agency of Singapore (GovTech Singapore), Digital Industry Singapore (DISG), Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), AI Singapore, SGInnovate, e27, and Deloitte.
Josephine Teo, Minister for Digital Development and Information, delivered opening remarks at Meta Singapore’s Llama Incubator Demo Day. She noted Singapore’s AI activities have progressed from fringe to mainstream and stressed the need to build long-term capability and trust through continued experimentation. She said that incubators like Llama Incubator Program are key enablers of purposeful AI use across planning, prediction, personalization, automation, and anomaly detection, and that partnerships and community will remain vital for Singapore to remain competitive and drive continued digital and economic growth.
Also read: Singapore’s CREX named among top 3 teams at world’s first Meta Llama Incubator Demo Day
Turning AI innovation into real-world impact
More than 100 organizations participated in the foundational workshop held in March 2025. 40 organizations were selected for six months of dedicated business and technical mentoring, as well as training on responsible AI practices including Llama’s protection tools and the IMDA Starter kit for Safety Testing of LLM-based applications, Project Moonshot and AI Verify Testing Framework, empowering them to advance responsible AI innovation.
Collectively, participants developed over 30 innovative Llama-powered solutions spanning the finance, healthcare, education, and public sectors. Winning teams receive US$30,000 each from Meta, with runners-up receiving US$10,000.
“We are excited by the participation of global AI leaders like Meta in Singapore. The Llama Incubator Program is an example of how collaboration can rapidly translate cutting-edge technology into real-world solutions. By giving startups, SMEs and public agencies hands-on technical guidance, this opportunity will spur innovation, and provide hands-on experience, strengthening Singapore’s role as an AI hub in the region,” said Philbert Gomez, Senior Vice President & Executive Director, Digital Industry Singapore.
Also read: The mentors behind the magic: Meet the experts guiding Singapore’s next AI breakthroughs
Partnering to accelerate AI adoption in enterprises
Meta has also partnered with AWS Singapore to offer eligible companies AWS credits. This empowers them to accelerate their solutions to market. As part of this collaboration, AWS hosted an enablement session for startups on utilizing Llama models with Amazon SageMaker AI and Amazon Bedrock. It will continue to provide tailored technical advisory and support.
“The digital economy is driving Singapore’s growth, and at the heart of it is the digital transformation of our local enterprises. IMDA is committed to helping our enterprises build digital capabilities, particularly in AI, to address business needs. Through the GenAI x Digital Leaders initiative, IMDA partners with global tech leaders like Meta to give our enterprises access to expertise and tools to harness AI for productivity and growth. Programs like Meta’s Llama Incubator provide hands-on experience to help companies navigate AI’s complexities, empowering them to innovate and sharpen their competitiveness,” said Johnson Poh, Assistant Chief Executive, Sectoral Transformation Group, IMDA.
Meta has most recently expanded its multi-year Upskill with Meta program focused on helping SMEs modernize and reach new audiences with the latest AI tools and solutions to accelerate growth, streamline operations, and drive success.
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