AI Salon is the global community bringing together AI founders and builders, investors, operators and ecosystem partners to connect, learn and collaborate.
Decentralised and chapter-led, AI Salon has grown to 77 chapters across more than 40 countries.
After five editions in Singapore, AI Salon Singapore returns on 15 July for another evening of fun conversations, useful insights and meaningful connections across the AI ecosystem.
Over the past five salons, we have brought together hundreds of founders, investors, engineers, operators and technology leaders who are actively building, funding and deploying AI across Singapore and Southeast Asia.
This next edition continues that momentum.
AI is moving quickly. New models, agents, products and companies are emerging every week. But beneath the noise, the questions that matter remain surprisingly practical:
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Where are founders finding genuine commercial traction?
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What kinds of AI companies are investors backing?
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How are teams moving from experimentation to deployment?
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Which opportunities are real, and which are mostly hype?
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What does it take to build globally relevant AI companies from Singapore?
Join us for a curated evening featuring founders, investors and technology leaders sharing what they are seeing, building and learning at the frontier of AI.
More details on the speakers and programme will be announced soon.
What We Will Explore
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How AI founders can find genuine commercial traction amid the hype
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What investors look for when evaluating AI startups
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How companies are moving from AI experimentation to deployment
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The evolving opportunities around AI agents and automation
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What differentiates defensible AI companies from thin product wrappers
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Tactical lessons for founders building the next generation of AI startups
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Singapore’s role as a hub for AI talent, capital and company building
Who Should Attend
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AI founders and startup teams
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Engineers, researchers and product builders
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Venture capital investors and angel investors
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Corporate innovation and technology leaders
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Operators exploring practical AI adoption
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Ecosystem partners supporting AI companies
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Anyone actively building, investing in or working with AI
Agenda
6:00 pm – Doors OpenRegistration, food and drinks
6:30 pm – Welcome AddressAI Salon Singapore community update
6:40 pm – Opening Keynote / Founder SharingTo be announced
7:00 pm – AI Builder SpotlightsShort presentations from founders building and deploying AI products
7:20 pm – Panel DiscussionFounders, investors and technology leaders unpacking what is happening in AI today and where the market is heading next
8:00 pm – Audience Q&A
8:15 pm – Networking
9:00 pm – End
Programme and timings are subject to change.
Meet the Speakers
Koh Shiyan, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, Hustle Fund
Shiyan Koh is Co-Founder and General Partner at Hustle Fund, an early-stage venture capital firm backing pre-seed and seed founders. Based in Singapore, Shiyan brings both operator and investor experience, having previously helped scale NerdWallet from an early-stage startup into a major fintech company.
At Hustle Fund, she backs ambitious founders early, with a sharp eye for execution, market insight and founder grit. The firm’s portfolio includes companies such as Webflow, Rupa Health.
Lu Jianfeng, Co-Founder & CEO, WIZ.AI
Jianfeng Lu is Founder and Chairman of WIZ.AI, one of Southeast Asia’s leading enterprise voice AI companies. A serial entrepreneur and active angel investor, Jianfeng previously held senior technology roles at Trend Micro and Qihoo 360 before founding WIZ.AI in Singapore in 2019.
WIZ.AI builds multilingual AI voice agents for enterprise customer engagement, serving over 300 clients across 17 countries, including Fortune 500 companies and unicorn startups. In 2025, the company reached over US$18 million in revenue.
Magnus Grimeland, Founder & CEO, Antler
Magnus Grimeland is the Founder and CEO of Antler, the world’s most active early-stage investor. Before Antler, he co-founded Zalora, scaled it into Asia’s leading fashion e-commerce platform, and later helped grow Global Fashion Group across 26 markets. He is also a Harvard graduate, former McKinsey partner, and served in the Norwegian Naval Special Forces.
Antler backs exceptional founders from inception to scale, with a presence across 30 cities. To date, Antler has backed over 1,800 startups globally, including Airalo, Lovable, Peec.AI, Reebelo and Wrtn. Through Antler Elevate, its US$285 million emerging growth fund, the firm also supports breakout companies beyond the early stages.
More speaker announcements coming soon.
Expect perspectives from experienced founders, investors, builders and operators working across AI, venture capital, enterprise technology and regional expansion.
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.
AIMX Network
The AIMX Network is a global community uniting AI leaders, practitioners, and innovators to address the critical question shaping the present and future of AI: How?
BLOCK71
BLOCK71 is a global network of innovation hubs and startup communities, backed by National University of Singapore (NUS Enterprise). Across 11 cities in 6 countries—Singapore, Jakarta, Bandung, Yogyakarta, Saigon, Nagoya, Tokyo, Suzhou, Chongqing, Guangzhou, and Silicon Valley—BLOCK71 supports entrepreneurs with the space, resources, and connections they need to succeed. Learn more at block71.co.
Lorong AI
Lorong AI brings together government, industry, and research to build Singapore's AI ecosystem. A collaborative hub for AI practitioners connect, innovate, and shape the future of AI in Singapore throughout curated programs and a supportive 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.
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.
OVHcloud
OVHcloud is a global player and the leading European cloud provider operating over 450,000 servers within 43 data centers across 4 continents to reach 1,6 million customers in over 140 countries.
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This community event is proudly brought to you by StartupX.
