Is Your AI or Robotics Startup Fundable? What Investors Look For Across China, Europe & SEA (for young founders and builders)
Young founders, what does it actually take to get funded as an early-stage AI or robotics company today?
Join us for a candid conversation with Amanda Cham from Bullhound Capital (investor in Spotify, Revolut, Slack, Unity and more), on what investors are really looking for, how early-stage deals are evaluated, and what “investable” looks like across different markets.
Drawing from Amanda’s recent exposure to startups and investors across Europe, China, the US, Singapore, and Southeast Asia, this session will unpack the differences in founder ambition, technical depth, traction expectations, market narratives, and fundraising standards across regions.
We’ll explore the question many founders quietly ask themselves: “Where do I need to be to get funded?” How much traction is enough? What makes an AI or robotics startup stand out before revenue is obvious? How do investors assess teams, technology, defensibility, and market timing when the company is still early?
The discussion will be especially useful for Singapore-based founders who want to understand the broader playing field and calibrate their fundraising story against global benchmarks. Expect practical investor perspectives, honest comparisons across markets, and a clearer sense of what early-stage investors are actually underwriting.
What we’ll cover:
What investors look for in early-stage AI and robotics companies
How Amanda evaluates early-stage deals
What “traction” really means at seed and pre-seed
How expectations differ across Europe, China, the US, Singapore, and SEA
What Singapore founders can learn from global fundraising standards
How to position your company more clearly for investors
For founders, operators, and ecosystem builders interested in fundraising, frontier technology, and building globally competitive AI and robotics companies from Singapore and Southeast Asia.
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About the Speaker
Amanda Cham is VP at Bullhound Capital, a fund with over €1 billion under management and 25 years of performance, that has invested in global leaders like Spotify, Klarna, Revolut, Slack, Unity. At Bullhound Capital and previously at 500 Global, Amanda works with technology startups and founders across venture and growth-stage investing. A former lawyer turned VC, Amanda brings a deal-focused perspective to fundraising, founder narratives, and what makes companies stand out to investors. She specialises in frontier technology, AI, robotics, cybersecurity, identity, and enterprise software, and has recently been studying robotics ecosystems across China and Southeast Asia.
About Wavesparks
Wavesparks is the earliest launchpad for youth founders in Asia. Through our pre-accelerator programs, Young Founders Summit, venture-building sprints, hackathons, workshops, founder communities, and early funding pathways, we help ambitious young people turn early ideas into real ventures.