At AppWorks Demo Day, Southeast Asia’s startups are mostly founded by repeat entrepreneurs and an AI focus

On 27 November, AppWorks Accelerator, a start-up community founded by business founders, marked its return to Singapore with Demo Day #31, held at Guoco Midtown Network Hub. The event brought investors, industry leaders, and other professionals together to hear the pitches of the latest cohort from AppWorks’ accelerator programme. Notably, 54% of this year’s batch were repeat entrepreneurs, seemingly an indicator of a maturing Southeast Asian startup ecosystem increasingly shaped by builders who have launched, failed, or exited before and are now taking a renewed shot at scaling tech ventures.

The surge in seasoned founders comes in tandem with an increase in AI adoption in the Southeast Asian region. In 2024, AI uptake among Southeast Asian SMEs tripled from 4.2% to 14.5%, fueled by a young digital-native population and rising investments in AI-ready data infrastructure as data centres open up. 

Simultaneously, Southeast Asia is steadily emerging as global AI hotspot (in more ways than one), as more and more global companies open data centres in the region. That combination of these factors was on clear display at this year’s Demo Day in Singapore, where 14 of the 16 presenting companies showcased businesses with AI or IoT applications.

Among them was Hivebotics, a Singapore-based robotics company that aims to address labour shortages and operational inefficiencies in commercial cleaning and facilities management. Co-founded by Rishab Patwari and Tuan Dung, Hivebotics deploys autonomous restroom and building-cleaning robots, with AI to learn its cleaning routes and optimise workflow. The strength of their concept is most clearly seen with their existing partnerships; Hivebotics is working with Changi Airport Group, ISS, Sodexo, Kintsugi Holdings, and Chaico Development (HK) Pte. Ltd. across Singapore, the UAE, the United States, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Besides showcasing a blend of technology and product, 12 of the 16 companies were developed with Southeast Asia as their primary market. Among these is Heymax, a Singapore-based traveller rewards aggregator founded by Joe Lu. The company consolidates loyalty programmes in the travel landscape, which is often scattered due to its fast-paced and globalised nature, into one platform. 

Presently, it counts more than 150,000 users and over 800 merchant partners, including familiar brands like Singapore Airlines, Trip.Com, Cathay Pacific, and Klook, as well as more specific ones like Japan Railways East and Octopus Hong Kong, among others. 

“Founders in Southeast Asia are entering a more grounded, experience-driven phase, and this cohort reflects that shift,” said Alyssa Chen, Principal of AppWorks Accelerator. “Many have built before, they understand customer pain points, cross-border realities, and what it takes to operationalise AI, IoT, and on-chain systems in the real world. Demo Day #31 is an opportunity for investors to meet operators already demonstrating real traction across the region.”

“As we look toward AW#32, we’re especially supporting founders in three verticals shaping Asia’s next decade: Manufacturing AI, where Taiwan’s supply chain gives builders a real advantage; Defence Tech, where dual-use innovation is rapidly expanding; and On-Chain Banking, as financial infrastructure becomes increasingly programmable. No matter the specific product you’re building, AppWorks is a strategic partner for entering Taiwan and scaling across Asia.”

With a community of more than 650 active startups that collectively generate over US$17 billion in annual revenue and employ 28,000 people worldwide, AppWorks Accelerator’s growing network continues to strengthen the connective tissue of Greater Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem.