AppWorks Demo Day #29 Singapore Highlights Startups Achieving Regional and Global Relevance
AppWorks
December 16, 2024
in General

AppWorks rolls out AppWorks Demo Day #29 Singapore as part of the AppWorks Accelerator Roadshow program to showcase innovative founders from across the region

SINGAPORE—December 16, 2024—AppWorks Accelerator, Greater Southeast Asia’s largest startup bootcamp, today held its Singapore Demo Day for AppWorks Accelerator #29 (AW#29), showcasing innovative startups from Southeast Asia and beyond, building new products and solutions for a diverse range of industries. AppWorks’ Singapore Demo Day builds off the firm’s efforts to enhance Greater Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem, connecting ASEAN with Taiwan and North Asia. 

The event marks AppWorks’ fourth startup showcase event in the city-state, and first-ever formal Singapore Demo Day, underscoring the continued regionalization of AppWorks, enhancing the firm’s impact in Southeast Asia to offer outsized support to founders and connect with investors throughout the region. The event follows recent successful Demo Day events in Jakarta and Taipei, as part of the AppWorks Accelerator roadshow program to spotlight startups throughout the region. Moving forward, AppWorks will host marquee Demo Day events in Taipei, Jakarta, and Singapore for each AppWorks Accelerator batch.

Since September 2024, 49 startups have worked closely with AppWorks Accelerator. This batch includes 103 founders from 12 different markets, including Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Malaysia, Japan, and beyond, with 40% being serial entrepreneurs. As part of the event, 28 teams from AppWorks Accelerator #29 (AW#29) presented their solutions to local, regional, and global investors. This diverse cohort includes thirteen teams focused on AI/IoT, eight teams specializing in web3, and twenty five teams from Southeast Asia operating in various sectors such as fintech, healthtech, edutech, and more.

AppWorks Accelerator provides meaningful value to startups across the value creation chain, ranging from seed stage startups building initial traction to growth stage companies expanding their horizons, helping founders at all stages to refine their ideas and improve executions. Of particular note, 22% of AW#29 startups have achieved annualized revenue exceeding US$1 million.

“AW#29 is a force to be reckoned with. These founders are tackling major challenges across diverse sectors with the vision and drive to become regional leaders. At AppWorks, we’re more than just investors; we’re builders of ecosystems, empowering founders with the resources and mentorship they need to succeed across the region and beyond. With 53% of AW#29 startups already operating in multiple markets, we’re seeing a clear shift towards regional strategies for success in Greater Southeast Asia,” said Jamie Lin, Chairman & Partner, AppWorks. “We will continue to bring AppWorks Accelerator Demo Day to Singapore for future batches to help our founders realize this strategy.”

The Singapore event comes as venture capital firms in Southeast Asia reevaluate their investment strategies, recognizing that startups that can create a regionally-viable business model across multiple markets stand to be more competitive and scalable, addressing the limited purchasing power of single country strategies. Successful case studies such as Grab, GoTo, and Sea Ltd. have shown the viability of businesses that can take advantage of multiple markets to build to scale. Of particular note, 26 out of 49 (53%) startups in AW#29 have already established a regional presence across multiple markets.

Traditional Financial Institutions Enter the Crypto Space

With cryptocurrency prices reaching new all-time highs amid a renaissance in digital currency optimism, startups from AW#29 are showcasing advanced, institution-grade solutions that are poised to accelerate institutional investors’ entry into the market. Many solutions being showcased were built during the recent bear market cycle, demonstrating the importance of founder conviction and resilience through tough times.

  • Led by a co-founder of Hummingbot, the QuantAlpha AI team has caught the attention of Singapore’s renowned asset management firm, Raffles Family Office. In Q4 2024, they deployed $500K to test QuantAlpha’s AI-driven trading strategy platform, with plans to market AI strategies to Raffles’ institutional clients in the future;
  • Singapore-based Equitize targets small to mid-sized financial institutions, offering tokenization infrastructure for assets managed in the $25 million to $500 million range. Revenue over the past three months has accumulated to $150,000, with a month-over-month growth rate of 120%;
  • Dexponent, a team focused on institutional markets, has attracted a total value locked (TVL) of $30 million with their yield products, highlighting the growing demand for secure crypto solutions among institutional investors.

Founders and Their Associated Companies Featured Included:

Web3

Healthtech

Consumer

  • (ID) Ryan Wei, SIP Group: Functional nutritious snacks for grassroots Indonesian kids

ESG

Edutech

B2B SaaS Tools

Entertainment, Hospitality, and Travel

Industrial

Fintech

Agritech

With the addition of AW#29, the AppWorks Ecosystem now includes 607 active startups and 1,846 founders. These companies collectively generate over US$16 billion in revenue, employ 24,570 individuals, and have raised US$6.4 billion, with an aggregate valuation reaching US$30.3 billion. 

 

About AppWorks
Founded in 2009, AppWorks is a leading startup community and venture capital firm built by founders, for founders. We are committed to backing the next generation of entrepreneurs in Greater Southeast Asia (ASEAN+Taiwan) and helping them facilitate the region’s transition into the digital age. Just as how mobile and the internet completely transformed the status quo, we believe the current era of technology is currently being defined by major three paradigm shifts: AI, Blockchain, and Southeast Asia (A.B.S.). 

As such, whether its mentorship, investment, or talent, AppWorks has established a one-stop-shop for ambitious founders willing to bet against the consensus and drive a change they want to see in the world. We help startups build disruptive businesses from even an inkling of an idea into world-class enterprises through our three primary lines of service: Accelerator, Funds, and School.
More information: appworks.tw