Kopi Under the Block - AI Funding: Hype vs. Reality
What makes an AI startup truly fundable in 2025? How do investors cut through the noise to spot real long-term value?
Join us for an unfiltered conversation with leading voices from VCs, product builders, and founders shaping the AI future. We’ll unpack what separates hype-driven AI pitches from those with substance, explore how investors think about growth vs. fundraising milestones, and hear firsthand lessons from founders who’ve navigated the funding journey.
This is part of our Winter Cohort 2025 roadshow - featuring our Special Growth Track - AI Accelerate, in partnership with Microsoft and supported by Digital Industry Singapore. Get first hard know-hows of the programme and what will make your application stand out.
Agenda:
6-6.30pm: Registration + Early Food/Drinks
6.30pm - 6.50pm: Welcome, Programme info of AI Accelerate
6.50pm - 8pm: Panel Session - AI Funding - Hype VS Reality
8pm: Networking
Whether you’re fundraising, investing, or simply curious about where AI funding is headed — this is a session you won’t want to miss.
Moderator
Chairman Faith Tan
Chief Visioneer, Engages.ai | Founder, QD Academy | Director, Vector – AI Digital Workers
A Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia honoree and Top 100 Women in Tech, Faith is a faith-driven entrepreneur on a mission to integrate Faith, AI, and Authenticity in business and leadership. She leads Engages.ai in building meaningful human-AI connections, drives adult learning through QD Academy, and redefines operational efficiency at Vector.
Speakers
🎙️ Guan Dian
Co-Founder, General Manager for Asia Pacific and Chief Marketing Officer, Patsnap
A key figure in Patsnap’s journey to unicorn status, Guan Dian played a pivotal role in its fundraising efforts. She has championed customer-centric initiatives, including the launch of Patsnap Academy—a specialized curriculum designed for IP and R&D professionals—and has cultivated a thriving innovation ecosystem by building strategic partnerships with government agencies, academic institutions, and industry leaders.
Currently, she leads Patsnap’s business expansion across Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia, while also overseeing global marketing and public relations for the Singapore-founded tech unicorn.
🎙️ Dr. Yiliang Zhao
Director of Data Science, Openspace
Yiliang brings over a decade of AI experience to help startups scale smarter across Southeast Asia. At Openspace, he leads data science initiatives that have unlocked $100M+ in value, while also shaping future leaders as adjunct faculty at NUS and SMU.
🎙️ Carmen Opera
Chief Product Officer, Trustana
As Chief Product Officer at Trustana, Carmen drives the vision behind its foundational product data infrastructure for AI commerce. Backed by Temasek and operating across Singapore, Shanghai, Australia, India, and Germany, Trustana has been recognized as the Best Product Experience Platform for Retailers. Its proprietary product knowledge graph transforms fragmented product data into enriched, contextualized content — powering AI workflows that even outperform GPT for commerce use cases.
🎙️ Daryl Lim
Co-founder & CEO, Augmentus
Daryl is the co-founder of Augmentus, a no-code robotics company that has successfully raised seed funding and is transforming how industries adopt automation. From being recognised as one of the Top 50 startups to pitch at SLINGSHOT 2022 to expanding into 5+ countries and deploying 50+ systems with global leaders like ST Engineering, Caterpillar, and Applied Materials, Daryl brings deep experience in scaling AI-driven solutions from vision to global impact.