AI Salon Singapore — June Edition
AI is moving from hype to execution.
Across every industry, founders, builders, investors, corporates and operators are asking the same question:
What does it actually take to build, fund and scale real AI companies today?
This June, AI Salon Singapore returns for another evening of sharp conversations, practical insights, founder energy and high-signal networking with the people building the future of AI.
For this edition, we will explore:
Building and Backing the Next Wave of AI Companies from Singapore and Southeast Asia
AI has made it easier than ever to build products, ship demos and tell big stories.
But that has also made the signal harder to read.
Which AI startups are actually defensible?
What are investors looking for beyond the wrapper and the pitch deck?
Where does Southeast Asia have a real edge in applied AI, vertical AI and workflow-specific AI?
And can Singapore become a serious global hub for AI builders, capital and community?
We will bring together founders, investors, operators and ecosystem leaders to unpack what is really being built, funded and deployed in AI today.
AI Salon is one of the largest global communities of AI startup builders, founders, investors, and ecosystem partners — spanning 75+ cities, 1,000+ events, 4,000+ investors, 3,000+ startups, and 40,000+ attendees worldwide.
In Singapore, we are building a recurring community for the people who are not just watching the AI wave, but actively shaping it.
Since launching the Singapore chapter, we have brought together 600+ sign-ups, 300+ attendees, 20+ speakers, and a growing network of founders, builders, investors, corporates, and AI operators across the ecosystem.
This is not another generic AI talk.
It is a room for real conversations, early signals, honest perspectives, and meaningful connections.
What to Expect
Expect a mix of:
Founder sharingsReal stories from people building AI products, startups and companies.
Investor perspectivesWhat investors are seeing, funding, questioning and watching closely in AI.
Ecosystem perspectivesHow Singapore and Southeast Asia can position themselves as serious hubs for AI builders, capital, community and frontier technology.
Operator insightsPractical lessons on moving from experiments and prototypes to actual deployment.
Hot MicA 60-second open floor for selected founders, builders, and community members to share what they are working on, ask for help, or spark a useful conversation.
Networking over snacks and drinksMeet founders, investors, builders, corporates, and ecosystem leaders in a relaxed, high-quality setting.
Why Attend
ConnectGet face time with founders, investors, builders, and operators shaping the AI landscape.
LearnHear practical perspectives on what is actually happening in AI beyond the headlines.
Discover opportunitiesWhether you are building, hiring, investing, partnering, or exploring, AI Salon surfaces high-quality conversations and early signals.
Join the communityAI Salon is not a one-off event. It is a recurring global community for people building the future of AI.
Who Should Attend
AI founders and startup teams
Engineers, builders, and technical operators
Investors and ecosystem partners
Corporate innovation, digital, and strategy leaders
Product leaders, operators, and venture builders
Anyone actively exploring applied AI, AI startups, and AI-first business models
Agenda
6:00 PM — Registration & NetworkingArrivals, drinks, and early conversations with founders, operators, investors, and builders.
6:15 PM — Opening RemarksWelcome by AI Salon Singapore and StartupX.
6:30 PM — Partner SharingA short sharing from our event partner or sponsor.
6:45 PM — Speaker Sharing / Fireside PanelPerspectives from founders, investors, operators, and AI leaders.
7:30 PM — Hot MicSelected community members get 60 seconds to share what they are building, ask a question, or make an ask to the room.
8:00 PM onwards — NetworkingDeeper conversations with a curated audience of builders, backers, and decision-makers.
Community Participation
The Hot Mic is your 60 seconds to share something with the room.
It could be:
A project you are buildingA startup you are working onA question you are thinking aboutA hiring or fundraising askA problem you want help solvingAn insight the community should hear
No slides.No hard selling.Just you, your idea, and the room.
If you are building something interesting in AI, indicate your interest when registering and the team may reach out.
We are also growing the AI Salon Singapore chapter and welcome volunteers, partners, sponsors, speakers, and community builders who want to contribute to future sessions.
Meet the Speakers
Durwin Ho, Managing Partner, StartupX
Durwin Ho is the Managing Partner of StartupX, an innovation consultancy and startup ecosystem builder based in Singapore. Over the past decade, he has worked with corporates, governments, investors and founders across Asia to design startup programmes, accelerators, hackathons and market access initiatives. He also leads AI Salon Singapore, bringing together AI founders, builders, investors and operators for practical conversations on what is being built, funded and deployed in AI today.
Lim Kuo Yi, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Monk’s Hill Ventures
Lim Kuo Yi is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Monk’s Hill Ventures, a leading early-stage venture capital firm investing across Southeast Asia. He has extensive experience across venture capital, fund management, technology entrepreneurship and strategy consulting. Prior to Monk’s Hill Ventures, he was CEO of Infocomm Investments.
Peter Noszek, Co-Founder, SuperAI and TOKEN2049
Peter Noszek is the Co-Founder of SuperAI and TOKEN2049, two major global technology conferences convening founders, investors, operators and industry leaders across AI, Web3 and emerging technology. Through SuperAI, he is helping build Singapore into a global meeting point for the AI ecosystem, bringing together model builders, infrastructure companies, researchers, policymakers and AI-native startups.
Benjamin Dunphy, Partner, January Capital
Benjamin Dunphy is a Partner at January Capital, an APAC venture firm backing high-growth technology companies through venture capital and growth credit. With experience across investing, operations and scaling companies in the region, Ben brings a sharp investor lens on what is actually investable in AI today.
Alex Dam, Startup Market Lead - APAC, Notion
Alex is the Startup Lead for APAC @ Notion, where he leads growth marketing & partnership efforts to increase adoption of Notion among startups. Prior to this, he spent four years as a Venture Capital Principal, working in a two-person team that managed $20 million USD and made over 25 investments across Australia & New Zealand.
Darshit Vora, Staff Solutions Architect, Temporal Technologies
Darshit Vora is a Staff Solutions Architect at Temporal Technologies, where he helps teams build resilient, production-ready applications using Temporal Cloud and its Durable Execution platform. At AI Salon Singapore, he will speak on “Temporal: The Reliability Layer for Agentic AI”, sharing how teams can build more reliable AI agents and applications
Meet the Partners
AI Salon
AI Salon is the global community bringing together AI founders and builders, investors, and partners to connect and collaborate. We are starting new chapters in every city so join us to build the largest Global AI community.
StartupX
StartupX is a global innovation partner for those building what’s next. We collaborate with corporates, governments, and startups to launch ventures, scale businesses, and drive bold transformation. Since 2018, we’ve supported startups from 110+ countries and partnered with some of the world’s most forward-thinking companies. Founded by entrepreneurs and ecosystem builders, we built StartupX to challenge the status quo of how innovation gets done in Asia.
Notion
Notion is the AI workspace where teams and AI agents get more done together - combining note-taking, project management, and knowledge management in a flexible, customisable environment.
Temporal
Temporal is the leading open-source durable execution platform that helps companies build fault-tolerant, reliable, and easier-to-maintain applications at scale.
Singapore Global Network
The Singapore Global Network (SGN) is an initiative by the Economic Development Board (EDB) to create a community of overseas Singaporeans and non-Singaporeans interested in Singapore. Founded in June 2019, its goal is to leverage its community to create opportunities for its members and Singapore more broadly.
This event is supported by the Singapore Global Network — Connecting Singapore’s global network of family, friends and fans. By registering, attendees consent to the sharing of their registration and attendance information with Singapore Global Network for event reporting and to receive relevant news, updates and invitations.
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This community event is proudly brought to you by StartupX.
