By Harris Hakim
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 28: Artificial intelligence may dominate headlines, but Asia’s emerging companies are showing that innovation isn’t just about futuristic algorithms.
Many are applying AI — along with robotics, biotechnology and advanced materials — to very practical problems: cleaning ship hulls, caring for the elderly, finding home loans, treating cancer and even cooking dinner.
That’s the big takeaway from Forbes Asia’s 100 to Watch 2026, which spotlights 100 privately held companies across 16 Asia-Pacific countries. Collectively, they’ve raised US$2.4 billion to date, including nearly US$1 billion this year alone.
Robots at Work
Neptune Robotics (Singapore): Tackles biofouling — algae and barnacles that slow ships and raise fuel costs. Its fridge-sized robots clean hulls above and below water. The company has serviced 3,500 vessels across 61 ports and raised US$52 million in 2025.
Diden Robotics (South Korea): Builds two- and four-legged robots for shipyards. Its humanoid can carry 32kg, while its quadruped Spider climbs steel structures. Contracts already signed with Korean and European shipbuilders.
These firms aren’t asking if robots might replace humans someday. They’re targeting jobs that are already dangerous, repetitive or costly.
Robots in Daily Life
Robocore Technology (Hong Kong): Service robots for healthcare, education, hospitality and retail, deployed at 15,000 sites worldwide.
ugo (Japan): Robots for security and facilities management, patrolling shopping districts and server rooms. Backed by NTT West and Tokyo Gas, with funding above US$25 million.
Robotics is moving out of labs and into everyday settings — filling labour gaps in nursing homes, malls and offices.
Tiny Robots, Big Ambitions
Theranautilus (India): Developing nanorobots to deliver drugs directly to cancer cells. Oncology trials in animals are planned; oral-care nanorobots are entering human trials.
Bioyond Robotics (China): Automates drug discovery with AI and robotics, handling lab tasks like measuring, dispensing and moving samples. Raised US$80 million.
Here, “robotics” stretches from machines invisible to the eye to automated lab benches.
Reinventing Infrastructure
Luquos Energy (Hong Kong): Sulfur-based batteries that are nonflammable, last 15 years and cost half as much as lithium-ion. Already deployed at EV charging stations and solar farms.
MediSun Planet (Singapore): Modular systems that turn seawater and wastewater into fresh water, designed to cool AI data centres without draining public supplies.
These companies highlight how the AI boom itself is creating new infrastructure pressures — from energy storage to water supply.
Tackling Everyday Friction
Ambak (India): Digitises housing loans, connecting buyers, developers and banks. US$1 billion in loans disbursed to 19,000 customers.
Saltmine (Singapore): Software for designing and managing office space.
Soul Parking (Indonesia): Combines software and infrastructure to ease parking shortages.
Botinkit (China): A robot chef that cooks, seasons, controls temperature and cleans. Linked to a recipe app with 10,000 dishes, it’s already serving commercial kitchens.
These ventures start with familiar problems — paperwork, parking, cooking — and ask how technology can make them faster, cheaper or more reliable.
The Real Opportunity
Forbes calls AI the dominant theme of this year’s list, with green tech also prominent. But the deeper story isn’t just about technology labels. It’s about the problems being solved: Dirty ship hulls. Labour shortages. Hazardous welding jobs. Wastewater. Repetitive lab work. Inconsistent restaurant kitchens. Cancer cells that evade conventional treatment.
The list isn’t a prediction of Asia’s next tech giants — it’s a snapshot of where entrepreneurs are focusing their energy. And the pattern is clear: the most enduring opportunities may not lie in chasing buzzwords, but in tackling old problems that still cost time, labour and money.
WE