SINGAPORE – Machine learning data analytics startup AIDA Technologies has completed an undisclosed Series A funding round from investors Mastercard, Kuok Ventures and SGInnovate.
AIDA chief executive Tan Geok Leng told The Business Times that the proceeds of the investment will be used to deepen its capabilities and reach in existing markets and to expand into new ones. The company currently serves customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Hong Kong, and is planning to expand into the Philippines and Japan.
AIDA is only planning to raise its next round of funds after about two years so that the company can burnish its track record, Mr Tan said.
Rohit Chauhan, Mastercard’s executive vice-president of its artificial intelligence (AI) centre and cyber platforms, said in a statement: “This further strengthens Mastercard’s AI-focused strategy around people, infrastructure and domain expertise. It provides us with access to AIDA’s world-class AI platform and toolkit, as well as the possibility to jointly develop product solutions that leverage advancements in technology to deliver greater security and convenience for businesses and consumers in their everyday activities.”
Kuok Ventures director Kuok Meng Wei, whose firm was a seed investor in AIDA alongside SGInnovate, said: “Our investment approach prioritises promising early-stage technology companies like AIDA, which have potential to become key enablers to other businesses in the wider Kuok Group portfolio.”
AIDA was founded in 2016 by a team of data scientists from a research institute run by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*Star). Mr Tan was previously executive director of A*Star’s Institute for Infocomm Research and the chief technology officer for the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.