Mapping AI startups pushing SEA into the spotlight

The number of businesses adopting artificial intelligence has surged in Asia Pacific, jumping from 39% in 2020 and 2021 to 76% in 2022, according to an IDC InfoBrief report.

The leap came after the public release of ChatGPT in late 2022, which had investors pouring billions into AI startups and generative AI products.

And this upswing seems to be a global occurrence. In the first half of 2023, AI-focused companies worldwide raised US$25 billion, making up nearly 18% of total global funding. This includes the US$10 billion investment made by Microsoft into OpenAI earlier this year.

Southeast Asia, for one, is on track for an over 3.5x uptick in AI spending, which the IDC report projects will rise from US$174 million in 2022 to an estimated US$646 million by 2026.

Several startups in the region are also building products and services around the tech.

Tech in Asia‘s data shows that 32 AI startups in Southeast Asia secured funding in 2022, which is the region’s highest annual figure to date. As of September, 27 Southeast Asian AI startups have already received funding this year.

A majority of the AI startups in the region are involved in AI infrastructure, such as developing software frameworks or tools or optimizing models for specific uses.

For instance, Singapore-based Sentinent.io helps software developers embed AI capabilities into their applications. Indonesia-based Prowriting, meanwhile, offers a proofreading tool, and Thailand-based AltoTech provides AI-powered solutions for the manufacturing industry.

Reka, a company founded by Singaporean ex-Googler Yi Tay, creates generative AI models for various kinds of data, had secured US$58 million, one of the largest rounds of funding in the space. The company launched a closed beta test of its first product, Yasa, an enterprise-grade multimodal assistant.

Startups operating in AI data analytics and insights – which help clients analyze large data points – follow in terms of the number of firms.

The process optimization and automation segment has also seen a considerable number of startups. These firms primarily focus on using AI to streamline operations and automate the various processes within a business. Some examples include Para.fyi, Alfabeta, and Verihubs.