Showcasing transformative edge AI innovations across robotics, healthcare and smart city solutions
SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 8, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. hosted the Qualcomm AI Program for Innovators (QAIPI) 2025 – APAC Demo Day in Seoul, where 15 shortlisted startups from Japan, Singapore, and South Korea presented on-device AI solutions by leveraging Snapdragon® X Series processors, Snapdragon® 8 Series Mobile Platforms and Qualcomm Dragonwing™ products. These solutions demonstrate how real-time, power-efficient AI inference runs directly on Qualcomm® platforms enabling new capabilities across robotics, healthcare and smart cities.
The “Qualcomm AI Innovators Program 2025 – APAC Demo Day” held in Seoul was attended by (from left) Yvie Tai, Qualcomm Director of Business Development; O.H. Kwon, President of Qualcomm APAC; Noh Young-seok, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, South Korea; Sudeepto Roy, Qualcomm Vice President of Engineering and Lead for Global Ecosystem Development Program; Sang-pyo Kim, President of Qualcomm Korea; and representative from the U.S. Embassy in Korea.
O.H. Kwon, Senior Vice President & President, Qualcomm APAC, delivered the opening remarks at the “Qualcomm AI Innovators Program 2025 – APAC Demo Day” held in Seoul.
15 shortlisted startups from Japan, Singapore, and South Korea presenting their on-device AI solutions, demonstrating real-time, power-efficient AI inference enabled by Qualcomm’s platforms.
Startups showcase edge-AI innovations across robotics, healthcare, and smart cities by using Snapdragon X series processors and Qualcomm Dragonwing products.
As part of the six-month Mentorship Phase, participating startups received technical support from Qualcomm engineers, access to Qualcomm Technologies' hardware development kits, as well as business workshops designed to support deployment readiness. The program also includes intellectual property (IP) training and eligibility for a patent filing incentive of up to US$5,000, reinforcing long-term competitiveness and ecosystem growth.
The 15 shortlisted teams presenting at Demo Day are (in alphabetical order): AMATAMA, Cear, Guide Robotics, ModAstera, and Noahlogy from Japan; AI Seer, Biorithm, LINGOAI, MetaOptics, and Vilota from Singapore; and BanyaAI, MaumAI, MOTOV, SAKAK, and SqueezeBits from South Korea. The latest wave of startups highlights the transformative potential of edge AI across industries. Applications range from robotics and computer vision in industrial operations, to analytics platforms in healthcare, and smart city solutions. Innovations in on-device AI are delivering personalized, privacy-preserving experiences, demonstrating how edge AI, integrated with Qualcomm Technologies' powerful mobile, computing, and industrial and embedded IoT (IEoT) platforms, is creating real-world impact.
Qualcomm also led four Singapore startups—Biorithm, LingoAI, MetaOptics, and Vilota to demo at the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) from October 29 to 31, 2025. The companies showcased edge AI innovations spanning healthcare monitoring, real-time translation, advanced metalens optics, and robotics perception, showcasing the cutting-edge technologies shaping the future of AI-enabled solutions.
"AI continues to reshape industries globally, and we are excited to empower innovators in the Asia-Pacific region to lead this evolution," said O.H. Kwon, Senior Vice President & President, Qualcomm APAC. "We are committed to supporting innovators as they move from prototyping to real deployment, and to actively building the next generation of the region's AI ecosystem. Through our global technology leadership and ongoing investment in developer enablement, we are empowering teams to scale their solutions, create new market opportunities, and drive long-term innovation across industries."
"We are anchoring high-performance, energy-efficient edge computing in the deep domain expertise of inventors in Japan, Singapore, and South Korea—the essential catalyst for deploying embodied AI across diverse regional workflows," said Sudeepto Roy, Vice President of Engineering for Qualcomm Incorporated and Lead of Qualcomm's Global Ecosystem Development Program. "By providing advanced platforms and guidance on patent protection, we empower these innovators to translate their specific industrial insights into scalable solutions, effectively reimagining their operations for the age of physical AI."
Qualcomm Technologies continues to drive the global deployment of edge AI. In addition to empowering end devices through its technology platforms—combining AI, high-performance, low-power computing, and connectivity—Qualcomm Technologies has further expanded developer resources and its innovation ecosystem by acquiring the premier open-source hardware and software company, Arduino. The new Arduino UNO Q, Arduino's first dual-brain board, will enable millions of developers with the power of Qualcomm Dragonwing processors.
Looking ahead to the Qualcomm AI Program for Innovators (QAIPI) 2026 – APAC, the program will continue to empower startups across the region and drive innovation through platforms such as Arduino for rapid prototyping, along with expanded support for device-level AI and machine learning integration. These efforts reinforce Qualcomm Technologies' commitment to open-source collaboration and ecosystem development, enabling startups to progress efficiently from early concepts to prototypes and market-ready solutions, while supporting their transition from innovation to patentable IP. Further details of QAIPI 2026 will be announced in the near future. For more information, please visit the program website: www.qualcomm.com/ai-program-for-innovators/apac.
About Qualcomm
Qualcomm relentlessly innovates to deliver intelligent computing everywhere, helping the world tackle some of its most important challenges. Building on our 40 years of technology leadership in creating era-defining breakthroughs, we deliver a broad portfolio of solutions built with our leading-edge AI, high-performance, low-power computing, and unrivaled connectivity. Our Snapdragon® platforms power extraordinary consumer experiences, and our Qualcomm Dragonwing™ products empower businesses and industries to scale to new heights. Together with our ecosystem partners, we enable next-generation digital transformation to enrich lives, improve businesses, and advance societies. At Qualcomm, we are engineering human progress.
Qualcomm Incorporated includes our licensing business, QTL, and the vast majority of our patent portfolio. Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, operates, along with its subsidiaries, substantially all of our engineering and research and development functions and substantially all of our products and services businesses, including our QCT semiconductor business. Snapdragon and Qualcomm branded products are products of Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. and/or its subsidiaries. Qualcomm patented technologies are licensed by Qualcomm Incorporated.
Snapdragon, Qualcomm and Qualcomm Dragonwing are trademarks or registered trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated. ARDUINO and other Arduino brands and logos are trademarks of Arduino SrL.
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