Real Tech Fund Invests in Sentient.io, Developing and Providing Domain-Specific AI Solutions

Real Tech Global Fund*, managed by Real Tech Holdings Co., Ltd. (Sumida-ku, Tokyo; CEOs: Yukihiro Maru and Akihiko Nagata), wishes to announce their investment in Sentient.io Pte.Ltd.(hereinafter “Sentient.io”) This is Real Tech Global Fund’s third invested company. Sentient.io has developed a simple UI/UX that allows pre-trained microservices to be integrated into business applications via APIs, and is particularly popular in Southeast Asia. One particular popular technology has algorithms that can process and hone in on voice activities from training data in order to recognize the unique English “accent” of Southeast Asia such as Singlish. As a strategic partner in supporting the entry into the Japanese market, we will continue to accelerate collaboration with Japanese companies. ​

Building AI applications requires a high level of expertise and a long period to master. On the other hand, the number of software developers will grow from 4.8 million worldwide in 2019 to more than 28 million in 2024, with most of the increase occurring in Asia. In addition, the size of the AI market for voice and image recognition, video surveillance, and supply chain and inventory management is expected to reach $98.8 billion by 2025. Despite this expected growth in AI demand, the challenges for companies to adopt AI include lack of AI knowledge and building capabilities, lack of algorithms that can be applied to the user’s industry domain, or the high cost of implementing AI solutions.

Sentient.io, founded and headed by Mr. Christopher Yeo, a serial entrepreneur who has been leading the IT industry in Singapore for over 25 years, has been working with experienced data scientists and data analysts from the likes of Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). With a vision of “benefiting humanity with augmented intelligence”, Sentient.io specializes in speech and voice technology, computer vision technology , natural language processing, advanced data analytics and a simple to use UI/UX platform. In particular, for the analysis of unique English “accents” of Southeast Asia, they have algorithmic models that can hone in on voice activities and recognize the accented speech audio to convert into text. Using this model, they analyzed news footage in collaboration with a Singaporean broadcaster, and succeeded in analyzing the unique Singaporean English “accent,” (known as Singlish) which was difficult to analyze with existing AI technology. By expanding to other Southeast Asian regions and enhancing the language analysis AI, we expect to improve the efficiency of text transcription and translation.

Our affiliate company, Leave a Nest Singapore Pte. Ltd., has been working with the Enterprise Singapore (Singapore Government Agency) since 2019 to implement the “Enter to Japan market Program” to support Singapore-based deep-tech startups to enter the Japanese market. Sentient.io is one of the selected companies for the first batch of the program and has already been collaborating with several Japanese companies. We will continue to provide support in cooperation with other shareholders in order to provide further solutions and achieve a future listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
*Official name: “Real Tech Global Fund 1 Investment Limited Partnership

■About Sentiento.io Pte. Ltd.

• Date of Establishment: 1st of May 2017
• Location: 3 Fusionopolis Place,#03-56 Galaxis Work Lofts Singapore 138523
• Representative: Mr. Christopher Yeo
• Capital: 3.2M SGD
• Business Activities: Providing API services for AI and big data that can be easily and quickly searched and applied.
• For more Info: https://www.sentient.io/en/
• Foreseen Support: Support for entering the Japanese market, acceleration of collaboration with business companies, and support for listing in Japan
• Date of Investment: February 2021

■About REAL TECH FUND REAL TECH FUND

is a venture capital fund managed by Real Tech Holdings and its subsidiary Real Tech Japan. It solely invests in deep-tech startups solving societal and environmental issues.
HP： https://www.realtech.fund

■About Real Tech Holdings Co.,Ltd.

Real Tech Holdings support changemakers who give their heart and soul to solve societal and environmental challenges. Real Tech Holdings is a joint venture between euglena Co.,Ltd ( https://www.euglena.jp/ ) and Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. ( https://lne.st/ ).
HP： https://www.realtech.holdings

▶︎Press Contact

Real Tech Holdings Co.,Ltd.
Narita Shinya
contact@realtech.fund