AI-powered start-ups gain interest among investors who want to harness tech, offer solutions for mass market

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Investors are keen to tap into opportunities offered by AI start-ups as the technology is increasingly adopted by various industries, observers say

AI is a ‘revolution in the making and it will transform how we live, work, and connect with each other’, Alfian Sharifuddin of DBS Bank Hong Kong says

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Visitors walk past a stand at the Beyond Expo tech conference in Macau on May 10. Photo: AFP

Mia Castagnone

Published: 6:13pm, 14 May 2023

Investors are keen to tap into opportunities offered by artificial intelligence (AI) start-ups in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA), as the technology is increasingly adopted by various industries, according to market observers.

The launch of ChatGPT3 late last year has opened up everyone’s imagination on AI and consumers now understand how it can impact their everyday life, said Adrian Hia, a partner at Malaysian investment firm Kairous Capital, who expects to see companies progressively embrace AI to explore opportunities and solutions the technology can offer.

“As an active investor in the China market, it was exciting for us to be back in the GBA physically and meet tech companies,” said Hia, who was at the Beyond Expo conference in Macau last week, which brought together 600 start-ups in fields including healthcare, sustainability and consumer tech.

Kairous, which has extensive experience investing in Chinese companies and helping them expand into Southeast Asia, is in talks with a few start-ups on potential collaboration and investment, he added.

Visitors attend a talk during the Beyond Expo tech conference in Macau on May 10. Photo: AFP

Danny Chong, an executive director at Gobi Partners GBA, said ChatGPT “was the tipping point”, which will lead to more commercial applications of AI.