Qualcomm Announces Fifteen Startups Selected for AI Program in Asia-Pacific Region

San Diego-based Qualcomm Technologies has announced the selection of fifteen startups from Japan, Singapore, and South Korea to participate in its AI Program for Innovators (QAIPI) 2026. The program aims to empower these startups with cutting-edge technologies and resources to develop scalable edge AI solutions that address real-world challenges across various industries.

The selected teams will advance to the Mentorship Phase of QAIPI 2026, where they'll receive guidance from industry experts and access advanced development tools, including Qualcomm's Dragonwing and Snapdragon platforms. They'll also get the new Arduino UNO Q development board and access to the Qualcomm AI Hub, technical resources, training, and mentorship.

The selected startups are working on a diverse range of applications, including smart healthcare, robotics, retail, audio, and transportation. These innovations reflect the growing demand for real-time, power-efficient AI at the device level.

From Japan's drive to make robots more human-friendly and decarbonize maritime logistics, to Singapore's multilingual AI and maternal health tech, to South Korea's push for hyper-personalized, federated AI – these startups demonstrate how regional needs are shaping globally relevant solutions.

The selected teams from Japan include APTO, an AI data company providing high-quality multimodal datasets and data operations solutions that help enterprises build reliable AI systems at scale. Another Japanese team is KanjuTech, which builds brain-inspired adaptive AI for physical systems, helping machines learn on-device and remain reliable as real-world conditions change.

KimPax transforms master farmer expertise into trusted digital knowledge assets that aid farmers in reducing operational risk, improving profitability, and creating premium agricultural value. MY ROBOTS builds physician-reviewed surgical knowledge infrastructure that turns surgical video and audio into reusable clinical knowledge for training and documentation. XNOVA is a Japan-based physical AI startup building autonomous robotic systems for the construction industry using robotics, spatial intelligence, and edge AI technologies.

The selected teams from Singapore include QuikBot Technologies, which provides physical AI infrastructure to power smart cities. RED DOT DRONE specializes in remote and autonomous drone operations, enabling intelligent drone missions through cloud and edge technologies. Refined Robotics builds spatial and physical AI that allows legged robots to operate in unstructured real-world environments.

Zebrid is an AI-native deeptech company building a trust layer for orbital compute through autonomous, radiation-resilient infrastructure that helps keep edge AI data trusted, recoverable, and mission-grade. CLIKA auto-compresses AI models into optimized versions for target devices, reducing memory, heat, and cost while enabling efficient edge deployment across diverse hardware platforms.

The selected teams from South Korea include ENEZAi, which delivers ternary audio and language AI, including STT, TTS, LLMs, and translation. Plaid Labs builds NUVION, an AI vision inspection solution for small manufacturers using on-device AI and a subscription model to make quality automation affordable and easy to deploy.

Undermilli builds Maloha, a real-time voice-to-voice interpretation AI that originated in healthcare and now serves broader industries, delivering speech translation across 23 languages. WITHROBOT Inc. develops AI robots, algorithms, and edge boards for industrial safety, providing automated multimodal monitoring solutions tailored for harsh environments.

Qualcomm Technologies is at the forefront of AI research and development with over four decades of innovation behind it. The company creates platforms and solutions that bring together advanced AI, high-performance low-power computing, and industry-leading connectivity – powering products and services used around the world.

'In the second year of QAIPI across Japan, Singapore, and South Korea,' says Sudeepto Roy, Vice President of Engineering at Qualcomm Incorporated, 'we're seeing AI move decisively from prototypes to deployed infrastructure.' The selected startups stand out for their use of agentic AI and edge intelligence built for the physical world.

Through QAIPI 2026, Qualcomm provides equity-free mentorship, advanced platforms, product guidance, and patent incentives that help these teams turn promising prototypes into scalable, protected products. This program empowers startups across the Asia-Pacific region to develop next-generation AI solutions using Qualcomm's platforms – addressing real-world challenges with innovative technologies.

The selected startups are working on a diverse range of applications, including smart healthcare, robotics, retail, audio, and transportation. These innovations reflect the growing demand for real-time, power-efficient AI at the device level.

Qualcomm Technologies is committed to empowering innovation in the Asia-Pacific region through programs like QAIPI 2026. By providing access to cutting-edge technologies and resources, Qualcomm enables startups to develop scalable edge AI solutions that humanize robots, improve healthcare outcomes, and enhance industrial safety – addressing real-world challenges with innovative technologies.

The selected teams will have access to Qualcomm's extensive resources, including the new Arduino UNO Q development board, advanced development tools, technical resources, training, and mentorship. This comprehensive support system enables these teams to develop next-generation AI solutions that address real-world challenges across various industries.

Qualcomm Technologies has been a leader in AI research and development for over four decades with a focus on creating platforms and solutions that bring together advanced AI, high-performance low-power computing, and industry-leading connectivity. The company's Snapdragon platforms power consumer and personal computing experiences while its Dragonwing and Dragonfly portfolios support enterprise, industrial, automotive, networking, and data center applications.

The selected teams will showcase their AI innovations at a Demo Day planned for later this year. This event provides an opportunity for these startups to demonstrate the potential of their AI solutions in addressing real-world challenges across various industries.

Qualcomm's Dragonwing platforms support edge AI development with advanced tools and resources that help engineers build scalable, reliable AI systems. The company is committed to empowering innovation in the Asia-Pacific region through programs like QAIPI 2026 – enabling startups to develop next-generation AI solutions that address real-world challenges.

The selected teams will participate in the Mentorship Phase of QAIPI 2026, receiving guidance from industry experts and access to advanced development tools. This comprehensive support system enables these teams to develop scalable edge AI solutions using Qualcomm's platforms – addressing real-world challenges with innovative technologies.