Singapore is continuing its march toward fulfilling its 2030 vision of developing and implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into its society. The National AI Strategy’s ambitious goal is to boost various national projects such as healthcare, logistics, and border security. Already, the country accounts for many of the AI-based startups Southeast Asia offers.
These emerging startups are enhancing innovation and providing solutions to the government, industry and the public to realise the positive impact of AI. For example, national organisations are using AI-based communication tools to improve customer engagement and deliver timely assistance. Others offer various management or search tools to allow business and consumers to work more efficiently and access information faster.
How we can democratize the funding landscape in Southeast Asia
As technology in the country continues to develop rapidly, we take a closer look at some of the AI-based startups in Singapore striving to solve people’s problems.
Key players in Singapore’s AI-startup field
From 2017 to the first half of 2020, Singaporean AI startups have received over one billion Singapore dollars in funding. This level of support is not unfounded, but, rather, it’s the government’s support for AI that’s driving the investment. Moreover, the public has seen the potential the technology has for tackling societal challenges.
Here are 5 key players that are making a difference in Singapore’s AI-startup field:
Blue Monkey
Startup Blue Monkey, founded in 2019, is a company that uses AI to streamline business operations and processes. It brings various components of business together, thereby ensuring synergy among departments.
It handles redundant tasks, which saves time for strategic business planning and also makes work easier, reducing the number of employees needed to do the same job, thus cutting down on operational costs.
TAIGER
Founded in 2009, TAIGER’s expertise is in data and document processing. It uses a hybrid AI approach whereby they combine statistical machine learning and human-created rule processes to bring solutions.
Its document processing, data recognition and extraction, enable companies to seamlessly deal with customer applications and onboarding. It also provides automated communication tools, such as chatbots, to maintain customer engagement. This communication ability is partly why some government offices and boards use its products.
TAIGER is also setting out its stall for global expansion, having recently appointed ex-IBM Senior Vice President of Global Markets Bruno Di Leo as a Member of its Board of Directors.
ViSenze
ViSenze started in 2012 with a mission to improve customer search experiences in retail and eCommerce companies. Their mission is simple: humans are visual; therefore, companies should display quality product images to sell more.
The company’s AI solution boosts image recognition during product searches and discovery. This saves time and makes the customer’s experience more enjoyable. The retailer can also optimise the images using search engine optimisation (SEO) techniques and ensure the pictures are available outside of the retailer’s platform.
The eCommerce sites using ViSenze also benefit from being able to monitor product and inventory availability. They can push recommendations to customers and offer in-store solutions as well. As it is cloud-based, the user can scale its business to meet customer demands and increase conversion rates while analysing data on product performance and predicting future sales. Its enhanced AI capabilities have recently found recognition by gaining Amazon Web Services Machine Learning Competency status.
SHIELD
AI-based risk management company SHIELD (formerly CashShield) opened for business in 2008. It offers software security, fraud management, account protection, and defence against sophisticated online attacks.
CashShield’s trading algorithms, similar to the powerful ones used on Wall Street in the US, and the AI platform provide real-time and fast protection for businesses connected to the internet. For example, the company prevents account fraud by blocking online spammers from creating fake accounts to disseminate false information.
Late last year, it launched its latest product, DeviceSHEILD to help small businesses combat fraud.
Saleswhale
Saleswhale started in 2015 as an automated leads conversion tool and uses collaborative intelligence, whereby the AI handles mundane, repetitive business activities while humans manage the complex, valuable activities.
The automated leads conversion aspect identifies unattended leads and adds them to the system. AI features respond to common questions, qualify potential leads, and connects them to the sales team to become paying customers.
Another helpful aspect is the integrated playbooks to automate sales processes. The system will follow up on leads for those who participate in any events or access the website, saving the business time on customer recruitment and making the process more efficient.
Singapore currently ranks number one in innovation in the Asia-Pacific region and eighth in the world. One reason for this is their active engagement and investment in AI. The country still faces challenges in the adoption of new technologies, cybersecurity, and functioning in a post-COVID world, but it is currently leading the way with regards to the AI-based startups Southeast Asia is producing.
Nevertheless, the future looks bright due to the rise of so many AI-based startups in Singapore. These companies are bringing advancements in data processing, healthcare, logistical solutions, and adaptive technologies for education. Singapore is also spending S$25 billion to help with innovation, research, and development in the next five years. If it continues down this AI path, it will achieve more than other nations in Southeast Asia and other parts of the world.