Funding shifts to deep tech industry as generative Al drives investments

Experts believe new startups will build their business models on Al generator apps.

Back in 2014, businesses focused on logistics tech and e-commerce were not as big, but when Ninja Van entered the picture, the startup scene saw a rise of entrepreneurs gravitating towards the sector. The same phenomenon will likely happen again in the current startup economy, but this time with deep tech—technologies requiring substantial investment in research and development.

In an interview with Singapore Business Review, Bennett Lee, Investment Director of Velocity Ventures, said there will be a “lot of new startups building upon the technologies of artificial intelligence (AI) and ChatGPT.”

Jeffrey Chi, Vice Chairman for Asia at Vickers Venture Partners, also believes that deep tech is set to flourish, especially since the sector already saw growth in 2022.

Raymond Moh, Senior Adviser to Cambridge Advisers Pte Ltd and serving as a mentor at Singapore University of Technology and Design, had a similar observation, saying that many of the emerging startups are “developing disruptive applications in the Web 3.0 space.”

“This includes deep learning applications to enhance the productivity of traditional processes and generate insights from untapped data that are conventionally stored in archives; blockchain applications to provide decentralised solutions to the traditional finance processes, and others create a whole new digital ecosystem and user experience in gaming and metaverse platforms; Internet of Things (IoT) applications in both household and commercial uses to provide convenience and enhance the longevity of high-value assets, respectively,” Moh said.