GITEX AI ASIA 2026 Closes in Singapore — Ailytics Crowned Supernova Champion as Startups, Investors and Frontier Tech Take Centre Stage

Day two of GITEX AI ASIA 2026 at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore, brought the curtain down on one of the most concentrated startup and investment events the region has hosted this year.

Over 300 startups from 50+ countries participated in North Star Asia, meeting investors from more than 30 countries managing upwards of US$350B in AUM.

The conversations across the show floor and conference programme sharpened around the technologies and business models best placed to scale in an AI economy shaped by regulation, industrial urgency, and the race from research to revenue.

Supernova Challenge: The Results

GITEX AI ASIA's flagship pitch competition drew fierce competition from across Asia and neighboring markets. From a competitive field, three startups stood out:

🏆 Ailytics (Singapore) — Supernova Champion
A workplace safety platform that converts standard CCTV into AI-powered monitoring tools.
Took home SG$30,000 in equity-free prize money.

🥈 Lifescapes (Japan) — First Runner-Up
A health-tech pioneer. SG$20,000.

🥉 Codespresso (South Korea) — Second Runner-Up
A talent upskilling and hiring platform. SG$10,000.

Tan Wei Zhuang (Lenard), CEO of Ailytics, noted the quality of engagement at the event had been strong, describing the ROI from GITEX AI ASIA Singapore as excellent from a tech campus perspective.

The Conversations That Defined Day 2

Sovereign AI and Governance
Demetris Skourides, Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation & Technology, Republic of Cyprus, challenged the room on what sovereign AI actually means — arguing it extends well beyond running a model domestically to encompass full-stack control over data, decisions, and the algorithms that define them.

Circular Manufacturing and Industry 5.0
Dr. Arvind Bodhankar, Chief Sustainability Officer at ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel, outlined how AI, robotics, and next-generation materials are driving greener industrial production — anchored in a reduce, recycle, repurpose framework that feeds materials back into the production cycle rather than discarding them.

Investor Perspective
Saemin Ahn of Rakuten Capital pointed to capital concentrating around startups solving mission-critical problems in durable themes. Yinghui Kuang of Granite Asia — with 127 unicorns backed — was candid about timelines, noting that cheques often follow three to five years of observation rather than a single pitch meeting.

The Bigger Picture
AI investment in Southeast Asia is projected to grow at 25% CAGR and surpass US$110B by 2028. GITEX AI ASIA 2026 positioned itself squarely at the center of that trajectory — not just as a showcase, but as the environment where the region's next wave of innovation gets discovered, funded, and built.

🔗 Full article: https://bitmediabuzz.medium.com/global-startups-shape-new-ai-quantum-and-sustainable-tech-frontiers-at-gitex-ai-asia-292fc3b30fae

🌐 More: https://gitexasia.com/