KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 7): Asia’s first artificial intelligence (AI)-focused venture fund and largest corporate innovation platform, GenAI Fund, has allocated US$6 million (RM25.05 million) to six start-ups selected for Asean’s first Enterprise FastTrack AI Accelerator (FastTrack) Cohort 1.

These start-ups will work with leading enterprises in Southeast Asia to co-develop and pilot AI projects aimed at rapid commercial deployment, according to a press release.

The FastTrack Cohort 1 initiative is designed to “fast-track promising builders towards enterprise adoption, scalable impact and investment readiness” by connecting them with its extensive corporate network across Asia.

Participating corporations include a global FMCG brand, one of Vietnam’s leading commercial banks, and Tasco, among other enterprises driving AI adoption across the region.

The accelerator provides start-ups with up to US$1 million in GPU (graphics processing unit) and cloud resources, access to technical experts, investment evaluation by GenAI Fund, and proof-of-concept (PoC) opportunities with over 100 large corporations via the GenAI Open Innovation network.

“Since late 2024, we’ve facilitated more than 300 curated connections between enterprises and AI startups through our GenAI Open Innovation programmes powered by our proprietary AI matchmaking platform, now emerging as the go-to-market engine for AI startups across Asia. 

“By intelligently matching enterprise challenges with startup solutions, the platform helps these innovators scale with over 100 enterprises that are ready to adopt and deploy AI. 

“The six startups in this first FastTrack cohort represent the strongest outcomes of that ecosystem — proof that Southeast Asia is shifting from AI experimentation to real deployment,” said Kai Yong Kang, partner at GenAI Fund.

The six start-ups — Blaze AI, Life AI, Ourteam, Presight, Revve AI and Tribee — represent a diverse set of companies applying generative and agentic AI across industries such as banking, healthcare, finance, mobility and retail. Each has secured paid enterprise proof of concept projects, and is under active investment evaluation by GenAI Fund.

Blaze AI, co-founded by Trung Huynh, a former software engineer at Google and Palantir and a graduate of the University of Oxford, develops high-quality, affordable voice AI tools tailored for Southeast Asian languages.

Life AI, led by Tuan Cao, a former Google engineering leader with a PhD from Cornell University, is a decentralised science platform that accelerates genomics and precision healthcare through AI-driven collaboration.

Ourteam, founded by Yew Wai Kong, a core founding member of Groupon, Fave and OVO, helps enterprises automate candidate screening, reducing review time by up to 50%, while improving hiring fairness and quality.

Presight, co-founded by Ben Pham, a former Microsoft data scientist, builds AI data analysts that deliver trusted, hallucination-free insights directly from enterprise data warehouses with full compliance.

Revve AI, founded by Y Combinator alumnus Trung Vu, creates human-like AI voice and chat agents to help financial and consumer brands scale operations without expanding headcount.

Tribee, founded by Vietnam-based operator Pawel Górski, applies behavioural AI to coach frontline sales teams in real time, improving performance by over 30% within the first year.

The first cohort attracted more than 300 applications from 15 countries, led by Singapore (27%), Vietnam (23%), the US (11%), Malaysia (9%), India (8%) and Indonesia (6%).

The top represented sectors included finance, healthcare, and retail, followed by manufacturing, logistics and education. There are the sectors where AI is already demonstrating measurable business impact. Nearly 92% of applicants were business-to-business (B2B)-focused, highlighting the growing demand for enterprise AI solutions.

“We target for Cohort 1 to unveil their pilot projects with their paired enterprises within three months, in light of their co-development and close collaboration from the get go. This will then help GenAI Fund double down on the breakout start-ups and back them with capital and partnerships to 10x their growth in the next phase,” said Kang.

Thanks to the positive response, GenAI Fund has now opened applications for FastTrack Cohort 2, inviting global AI start-ups eager to scale with leading enterprises across Southeast Asia.

“This strong response gives us impetus for the next iteration. We are now accepting applications for FastTrack Cohort 2, where we are seeking a new wave of global AI start-ups wanting to scale with leading enterprises across Southeast Asia,” added Kang.

The FastTrack AI Accelerator programme addresses key challenges faced by AI start-ups such as slow enterprise on-boarding, low product-market fit, and limited sales resources.

By offering resources, mentorship and corporate access, the programme aims to help AI builders turn innovation into measurable impact across the enterprise ecosystem.