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The field of artificial intelligence (AI) is witnessing a remarkable surge across Asia, driven by a confluence of factors including a burgeoning tech talent pool, increasing investment flows, and a growing recognition of AI's transformative potential.
The AI market in Asia is expected to reach $62 billion in 2023 and grow at an annual rate of approximately 19.46% from 2023 to 2030, reaching $215.3 billion by 2030. Furthermore, the Asia Pacific AI market is projected to grow by 28.58% between 2024-2030, resulting in a market volume of $298.4 billion in 2030.
This AI renaissance in Asia is fueled by the region's deep technological capabilities, a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem, and a vast consumer market hungry for disruptive solutions. As a result, Asia is witnessing the rise of a diverse array of AI startups that are tackling complex challenges across various sectors, from healthcare and finance to logistics and education.
These startups are not only developing cutting-edge AI models but also finding novel applications for existing AI technologies, tailored to the unique needs and nuances of Asian markets. With a potent combination of technical prowess, market insights, and an appetite for innovation, Asian AI startups are well-positioned to shape the future of AI.
Let’s take a glimpse at the 10 rising AI startups in Asia. Number is irrelevant to ranking.
Autify is an AI startup based in Japan that provides a software testing automation platform. This startup was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. The company offers a no-code platform that enables anyone to easily automate web and mobile application testing without coding knowledge. Autify's platform allows users to create, execute, and automate test scenarios for applications without the need for programming skills.
In October 2021, Autify raised $10 million in Series A funding led by World Innovation Lab (WiL), a venture capital firm based in Palo Alto and Tokyo. This funding round also included participation from investors like Uncorrelated Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, and Tably. Prior to this, Autify had raised around $2.2 million in earlier funding rounds. The Series A funding was aimed at accelerating Autify's global expansion and supporting the development of new products like mobile application testing capabilities.
(Refer to: What Is Autify? Overview & Tour Of Features)
Nuport is a Dhaka-based SaaS startup that provides a full-stack supply chain automation platform for e-commerce companies and distributors in Bangladesh. The company was founded in 2021 by Fahim Salam and Christopher Li.
Nuport's platform leverages AI and machine learning to automate various aspects of the supply chain, including order management, inventory management, warehouse management, and business intelligence. Their AI-powered solutions help streamline operations, reduce costs, and enable data-driven decision-making for their clients. Key features include dynamic order management across multiple channels, automated distribution planning, smart warehousing, and an e-commerce suite.
Nuport reportedly secured investments from ODX Flexport ($125,000) and Iterative ($250,000) in 2023. The startup aims to become the largest cloud SaaS player in Bangladesh's supply chain automation space.
(Refer to: Fahim Salam: The Making Of Nuport, Supply Chain Automation, Productivity, And Entrepreneurship lessons)
Sarvam AI is an Indian artificial intelligence startup based in Bengaluru that focuses on developing custom large language models (LLMs) and a platform for enterprise deployment of generative AI solutions. The company was founded in 2023 by Vivek Raghavan and Pratyush Kumar.
In its Series A funding round led by Lightspeed, Sarvam AI raised $41 million from investors including Lightspeed, Peak XV Partners, and Khosla Ventures. This funding, which is claimed to be the largest early-stage investment for an Indian AI startup, will be used to build a full-stack platform combining model innovation with application development to accelerate the adoption of generative AI in India. The funds will also allow Sarvam AI to work on building uniquely Indian use cases and delivering solutions at affordable prices.
(Refer to: Is Sarvam AI the OpenAI of India?)
Techtouch is a Tokyo-based startup that provides a digital adoption platform to help companies drive their digital transformation initiatives. The company's platform utilizes AI and machine learning to improve user experience and increase productivity by providing in-app guidance, training, and support for software applications.
In February 2023, Techtouch announced a JPY 1.78 billion(approximately $13.57 million) funding round led by DNX Ventures. The round also saw participation from prominent investors such as Mitsubishi UFJ Capital, SMBC Venture Capital, Mizuho Capital, NTT DOCOMO Ventures, Dentsu Ventures, Sony Innovation Fund, BRICKS FUND TOKYO, THE CREATIVE FUND, DBJ Capital, and Archetype Ventures. With this funding, Techtouch's total funds raised reached JPY 2.4 billion (around $18.3 million). The company plans to use the funds for recruitment, marketing, and global expansion, starting with the Asian region.
(Refer to: 日本企業のDX推進に欠かせないツール「DAP」がUIとUXを劇的に向上させる)
Packworks is a Philippine-based B2B startup that provides a digital platform to empower sari-sari stores, the ubiquitous neighborhood convenience stores across the country. The company was founded in 2018 by Ibba Bernardo, Bing Tan, and Hubert Yap, with the aim of helping these micro-retailers modernize their operations through technology.
In August 2022, Packworks raised $2 million in a seed funding round co-led by private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and logistics group Fast Group. Other investors in this round included ADB Ventures, Arise, Techstars, and IdeaSpace Foundation.
The funds will be used to develop ‘The Pack: SuperStore App’, a mobile ERP platform that that leverages AI and data analytics to allow sari-sari store owners to manage inventory, bookkeeping, data collection, and access financial services like loans. Packworks had already onboarded over 150,000 sari-sari stores prior to this funding, and aims to rapidly expand its reach with the new capital injection.
NexMind is a Malaysian startup that operates an AI-powered multilingual digital marketing platform. NexMind was founded in 2019 and is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was co-founded by Francis Lui(CEO), Bernie Law(CPO), and Pattrine Hong(CFO). The startup provides advanced SEO tools that allow users to create search-optimized content in 17 languages through its proprietary AI framework.
In 2023, NexMind secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Silicon Valley venture capital firm 500 Global. The seed funding from 500 Global will be utilized to expand NexMind's product offerings and accelerate customer acquisition worldwide. Coinciding with the funding, NexMind launched a new feature called Text2Social, which enables users to generate engaging social media posts across multiple channels in any of the 17 supported languages with just one click.
NexMind's AI platform simplifies the process for brands to create multilingual, search-optimized content that ranks well on search engines and e-commerce platforms, helping them boost organic traffic globally. The startup serves users from leading companies across industries like banking, insurance, electronics, IT, telecommunications, construction, healthcare, and more.
(Refer to: NexMind secures new seed funding to empower digital marketing services, launches Text2Social)
AmazingTalker is a Taiwan-based online tutoring platform that uses AI algorithms to efficiently match students with tutors for various subjects, primarily languages. Founded in 2017, AmazingTalker uses AI matching to connect students with suitable tutors within seconds, without long-term contracts.
It currently serves over 1 million users across 190 countries, with around 8,000 registered tutors. AmazingTalker has achieved an annual revenue growth rate of nearly 500%, with 60% of revenue coming from overseas markets. By leveraging technology, the startup enables tutors to maximize their earning potential while providing an interactive learning environment for students.
In February 2022, AmazingTalker secured $15.5 million in Series A funding. The round was led by CDIB Capital, with participation from JAFCO Asia and 500 Global. Prior to this, the company had raised over $15 million from investors including CDIB Capital, JAFCO Asia, 500 Global, and SparkLabs Taipei. The Series A funding will be used to drive AmazingTalker's international expansion into markets like Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, Europe, and North America. It will also support product development efforts to expand beyond just language learning into new subject areas.
(Refer to: NEXT BIG program from Startup Island TAIWAN unveils 13 innovative startups including AmazingTalker and Hahow)
iPage Bangladesh is an agritech startup based in Bangladesh that provides AI-powered solutions to help farmers increase productivity and profitability. This startup was co-founded in 2019 by Mashrur H. Shurid and Mohammad Saifullah Mithu. iPage(Integrated Precision Agriculture and Engineering) aims to create an equilibrium in Bangladesh's agricultural market by addressing core issues like lack of speedy soil testing infrastructure, information asymmetry, and exploitation by middlemen.
Their AI-based solution includes an instant soil testing machine that can analyze soil composition, pH, and other characteristics within 30-40 minutes. iPage collects real-time data on soil and surroundings using electronic devices, and then provides site and crop-specific agricultural prescriptions through its AI system. This leverages local research, historical data, and government guidelines to optimize farming practices. iPage operates through two wings - 'Ankur' for production and 'Krishan' for marketing/distribution.
iPage has produced an estimated $1.6 million worth of gross merchandise value from its advisory and trading services so far. The startup aims to develop an end-to-end AI-powered solution for data-driven support across production and distribution nodes in Bangladesh's agriculture sector.
(Refer to: Dhaka Bank and IPAGE Bangladesh signed agreement)
Alethea AI is a Singapore-based startup that focuses on developing generative AI and blockchain technologies. Alethea AI is a research and development studio working on decentralizing the ownership and governance of artificial intelligence. Alethea AI’s latest reported round being a $20 million Series B led by Google Ventures in 2022, taking their total funding to over $42 million.
One of their flagship products is CharacterGPT, a multimodal AI system that can generate interactive 3D characters capable of engaging in natural language conversations. These AI-generated characters, called Intelligent NFTs (iNFTs), can be created from textual prompts and interact with humans and other AI systems. Alethea AI aims to combine generative AI capabilities with blockchain technology to enable truly decentralized and democratized AI development.
(Refer to: Alethea AI launches emotive and expressive AI agents on Base blockchain)
CoRover.ai is an Indian conversational AI startup that specializes in developing advanced language models and conversational AI solutions. The company was founded in 2021 and is based in Bengaluru.
CoRover.ai is working on building large language models (LLMs) and conversational AI systems tailored for the Indian market. Their focus is on developing multilingual AI models that can understand and communicate in various Indian languages beyond just English. CoRover.ai aims to create AI assistants that can engage in natural language conversations while understanding the cultural and linguistic nuances of the Indian context.
Google signed an agreement with CoRover.ai in March 2023 and provided a non-equity funding of $500,000 to help scale the startup's project. As part of the strategic partnership, Google will offer cloud computing credits to CoRover.ai to access Google Cloud services. Plus, Google reportedly was set to invest around $4 million in CoRover.ai in 2023 to support the development and scaling of its multilingual language model BharatGPT. BharatGPT was released in January, 2024.
(Refer to: CoRover.ai unveils BharatGPT a GenAI as a Service)
Write : May Jang
Edit : Jinny Kim (underdogs)
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