Singapore – Singtel Innov8, the corporate venture capital arm of Singtel Group, has launched a US$250m AI investment fund aimed at supporting high-growth AI startups globally while expanding the use of applied AI across the group’s businesses.
The initiative forms part of Singtel’s wider strategy to strengthen its role as an adopter, enabler, and provider of AI technologies across connectivity, digital services and digital infrastructure.
The fund will target growth-stage companies developing AI capabilities in areas viewed as strategically important to the group, including customer engagement, network operations, cybersecurity, IT automation, enterprise AI platforms and sector-specific applications. Beyond providing funding, Innov8 intends to connect portfolio companies with Singtel’s operating units to test and deploy solutions within operational environments.
“Our AI Growth Fund gives Singtel Group strategic access to transformative AI technologies at a pivotal stage of growth,” Edgar Hardless, CEO of Singtel Innov8, stated.
“By investing with clear deployment pathways, we accelerate applied AI adoption for enterprises, governments and consumers across the region.”
The investment programme is also designed to support AI deployment across Singtel’s ecosystem. Singtel Singapore and Optus will provide operational environments for testing and scaling AI across customer experience, network management and automation processes. Infrastructure capabilities are supported by Digital InfraCo assets, including Nxera data centres and the RE:AI cloud platform, while enterprise implementation will be supported by the technology services company NCS.
Additionally, the fund also complements Digital InfraCo’s applied AI CoE developed in partnership with NVIDIA, which focuses on enterprise-grade infrastructure and frameworks for AI workloads. Through the venture programme, Innov8 plans to invest across the AI technology stack, from infrastructure providers to application developers, with the aim of enabling faster deployment of AI solutions in enterprise and government environments.
“This initiative underscores the Group’s mission of empowering enterprises, governments and consumers with world-class digital and AI capabilities, reinforcing Singapore’s and the region’s position as a global hub for responsible and cutting-edge AI innovation,” Edgar added.
Singtel is also developing an integrated infrastructure framework described as an “AI Grid”, combining 5G-Advanced connectivity, edge computing and cloud capabilities to support distributed AI workloads. The platform is orchestrated through Paragon, enabling enterprises to deploy AI-driven applications across network and cloud environments with connectivity optimised for AI workloads.
