Singapore-founded deeptech startup SynaXG Technologies has raised over US$20 million in its first funding round, marking one of Asia’s largest early-stage investments in the fast-rising field of AI-Radio Access Networks (AI-RAN).
The round, backed by Qualgro, Vertex Ventures, and January Capital Growth Credit, positions the company as one of the region’s most ambitious contenders in AI-native wireless infrastructure.
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The investment arrives at a moment when Singapore’s deeptech ecosystem is entering a period of unprecedented growth. The city-state now leads Southeast Asia in AI activity, capturing an overwhelming 91.1 per cent of the region’s deeptech funding, supported by US$1.6 billion in government AI commitments and US$26 billion in broader tech investments.
With 650 AI startups, 32 unicorns, and a projected AI market size expected to reach US$4.64 billion by 2030 at a compound annual growth rate of 28.1 per cent, Singapore has quickly become the regional centre of gravity for advanced computing and frontier technologies.
It is within this accelerating landscape that SynaXG has emerged as a standout deeptech player. Founded by industry veteran Xin Huang, the company has quietly spent nearly four years engineering AI-native RAN systems, supported by a team with decades of wireless and compute expertise. Today, its partners already include global AI-RAN chipmakers, Network Equipment Providers, and major telecom operators.
“SynaXG is building products and solutions for the next generation of AI-powered wireless infrastructure,” said Chin Chao, Partner at January Capital. “A true deeptech AI-powered wireless-infrastructure startup is rare in this part of the world, and SynaXG is well-positioned to pioneer the next wave of innovation in this space. The team has both the ambition and the capability to shape the future of AI-driven connectivity, and we are proud to support them.”
AI-RAN: the backbone of the physical AI era
AI-RAN refers to radio access networks in which AI is embedded directly into the wireless architecture, enabling networks to process both cellular and AI workloads in real time. Unlike traditional RAN systems, AI-RAN architectures are cloud-centric, multi-tenant, and compute-rich, leveraging CPUs, GPUs, and DPUs to deliver ultralow latency, secure operations, anomaly detection, and enhanced privacy compliance.
This new category of network infrastructure is considered foundational to the rise of Physical AI (AI systems interacting with the real world across robotics, autonomous vehicles, drones, and industrial automation). These applications demand real-time responsiveness and adaptive decision-making at the network edge, making AI-RAN the critical enabler.
“We believe AI-RAN is the foundation of the next technology revolution – much like the iPhone reshaped the mobile era,” said Xin Huang, founder and CEO of SynaXG. “With four years of pioneering work and strong global partners, we are ready to scale and lead the next generation of AI-native wireless networks and Physical AI.”
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The global momentum behind the sector has accelerated sharply. In one of the most significant signals of confidence to date, NVIDIA announced a US$1 billion investment in Nokia, granting it a 2.9 per cent equity stake and deepening their strategic collaboration to embed AI into next-generation 5G and 6G radio networks. The partnership focuses on integrating Nokia’s RAN software with NVIDIA’s CUDA platform, establishing a unified AI-native foundation for future telecom infrastructure.
Industry-wide coordination is also rising. The AI-RAN Alliance, comprising more than 80 members, is spearheading research and standards across Asia-Pacific, while operators such as Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison have become among the world’s first to roll out commercial AI-RAN deployments—highlighting Southeast Asia’s growing leadership in the domain.
SynaXG’s global ambition aligns with rising regional momentum
With fresh capital in hand, SynaXG plans to accelerate product development, expand its global engineering teams, and deepen collaborations with telecom operators and enterprise partners worldwide. Early traction with AI-RAN chip providers and network equipment companies suggests that SynaXG is positioning itself not just as a participant but as a potential category leader.
“We believe that the deep AI capabilities of SynaXG’s team will position the company very well for capturing significant opportunities in a market driven by the demand for significantly more computing capacity,” said Heang Chhor, Managing Partner at Qualgro. “SynaXG has the potential to become a global player, growing out of Singapore.”
AI-RAN is shaping up to be one of the most consequential technological shifts since the emergence of cloud computing. By merging AI and telecom infrastructure into a single, adaptive computing fabric, AI-RAN unlocks applications previously considered unfeasible—from large-scale industrial automation to real-time public safety systems and next-generation smart cities.
SynaXG’s full-stack portfolio — spanning L1/L2/L3 RAN software, virtualised distributed and centralised units (vDU/vCU), radio units, and heterogeneous compute-optimised systems — positions it to serve operators transitioning from conventional RAN to AI-native architectures. As telecom providers increasingly seek software-driven agility and AI-enhanced intelligence, demand for such solutions is expected to rise sharply.
Preparing for the next stage: a global Series A
To support global rollouts and scale deployments, SynaXG is now preparing for its Series A fundraising. The company aims to broaden commercial adoption of AI-native RAN systems across international markets, leveraging Singapore’s growing reputation as a strategic base for deep-tech scaleups.
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Singapore’s dominance in AI investment, coupled with Asia’s expanding telecom modernisation efforts, creates a fertile environment for innovators like SynaXG. Although Southeast Asia’s deeptech funding dipped 34 per cent year-on-year in 2024, its share of regional venture capital rose to a record 17.6 per cent, indicating strong underlying momentum despite the temporary capital contraction.
Against this backdrop, SynaXG’s emergence as a well-funded AI-RAN pioneer demonstrates how Singapore’s deep-tech ecosystem is evolving from research-driven to globally competitive. With accelerating sector growth, strategic global partnerships, and its upcoming Series A, SynaXG is on course to become one of Asia’s most influential forces in AI-native wireless networks.
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