SG VC Iterative cuts team, narrows focus to AI-first startups

Iterative, a Singapore-based accelerator and VC firm, has cut its headcount from 16 employees to nine as part of its shift toward an AI-first strategy, co-founder and general partner Brian Ma confirmed to Tech in Asia.

The firm has also shut down all initiatives outside its core accelerator program. These include debt funding and its Scale program, which was launched in 2025 and aimed to invest between US$1 million to US$2 million in companies looking to expand.

“This was not because the economy is so bad, so we laid off people,” Ma said. “The future is exciting. We need to focus.”

Iterative’s co-founders Brian Ma (left) and Hsu Ken Ooi / Photo credit: Iterative

All seven affected employees received severance packages, he added, and three have since launched their own ventures.

The VC firm wants to focus exclusively on its core accelerator program, which runs twice a year and targets what Ma described as “AI-fluent founders.”

Iterative plans to invest up to US$500,000 in each participating startup.

Where SEA has an edge in AI

Ma and Hsu Ken Ooi founded Iterative in 2020. The firm has closed three funds, totalling US$130 million. Since then, it has invested in 191 companies, according to its website.

Its latest accelerator cohort includes just eight startups, one of the smallest since Iterative launched the program in 2020, as few applicants met the company’s new standard for “AI fluency.” In comparison, the firm accepted 15 startups in its first 2025 cohort and 21 in its second.

Still, Ma remains optimistic about Southeast Asia’s AI startups even as adoption remains well below levels seen in the US, where he is now based. “We’re doubling down on Southeast Asia. The only change is that we are betting on AI-fluent founders and we help those founders get access to US capital,” he said.

Iterative is also considering taking a cohort of startups to San Francisco to meet US investors.

Ma believes that the region’s strengths lie in applying AI to industries such as logistics, fintech, and education. Another opportunity is AI roll-ups, where companies acquire traditional businesses and use AI to improve operations and reshape business models.

That thesis is reflected in Iterative’s latest cohort. Among the selected startups is Paypers, which uses chat interfaces to automate finance operations and tax filing for small businesses in Thailand. Another is Taama, which automates regulatory compliance for food, supplement, and beauty brands in Singapore.

Lower valuations are another advantage for AI startups in the region, Ma said. “It’s crazy how high valuations are in the US. A Stanford dropout starting a company with just an idea can have a US$30 million to US$50 million post-money valuation.”