e27, Asia’s largest tech and startup media platform, announces the launch of Echelon X, Southeast Asia’s premier tech and startup conference. Happening from 15 to 16 May at the Singapore EXPO, this milestone 10th iteration helps startups forge new business connections, unravel new business opportunities, and create a deal flow of new investments across Southeast Asia’s tech ecosystem and beyond.
Echelon X aims to foster tech ecosystem resilience through deeper collaboration, knowledge-sharing, business matching, and collective innovation. Focusing on mature startups this year, the conference will see more than 100 distinguished speakers from prominent names such as Coffee meets Bagel, Moomoo SG, Ninja Van, YouTrip, Addo, Meta, Google Cloud, NTT, Nir Eyal, BRI Ventures, Fazz Financial, and Vertex Ventures.
Over the two-day event, the speakers will be sharing their insights across topics tailored for mature startups such as AI, sustainable growth, agile business practices, business resilience, and future-proofing.
Anchored on Echelon’s mission to supercharge Southeast Asia startup ecosystem, there will also be the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between e27 and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) Group on 15 May at the Pitch Stage. This agreement aims to catalyse growth and innovation within the region’s startup ecosystem by leveraging e27’s extensive media reach and NTT Group’s regional presence. Through this agreement, startups and tech companies will receive robust support, increased visibility, improved access to capital and enhanced networking opportunities.
The TOP100 program continues to be a staple at Echelon alongside the main conference. The curated growth program is established for startups across the region to gain visibility, mentorship, and funding opportunities. For the first time, the TOP100 will also see participants from outside traditional Southeast Asian borders, from India, Bangladesh, and Taiwan.
The 51 shortlisted startups will be participating actively at Echelon X through their exhibition booths and will have an opportunity to showcase their ideas on the Pitch Stage – the platform for participants of the TOP100 and other groups of startups to present their innovative solutions to the wider audience. Global accelerator brands Antler, Plug and Play APAC will be showcasing their startups along side on the Pitch Stage.
Notable startups participating in TOP100 includes Careera (Singapore), Fina Fintech (Laos), Edge Tutor (the Philippines), dentall Co. Ltd. (Taiwan), The Mango Jelly (India), PriyoShop (Bangladesh), Talent Hero Ventures (Singapore), among others.
Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information will deliver his welcome remarks on 15 May as guest-of-honour at this year’s conference.
Despite the current funding slowdown in Southeast Asia, the conference comes at an opportune time given Singapore’s continued prominence as the top startup investment destination in the region. Recent data from the ‘Singapore Venture Funding Landscape’ report reveals that Singapore-based startups accounted for 63.7% of all equity deals in 2023 when compared to the rest of Southeast Asia, with a significant increase in deep tech deals.
“It is our utmost privilege to be able to organise the Echelon conference year after year”, said Mohan Belani, CEO and Co-Founder of e27. “Over the past decade, we have seen the tech ecosystem growing exponentially, with Echelon being the must-attend conference for all things tech and startup. We have seen many revolutionary founders take the stage and showcase their innovative solutions to the world, and are excited to see what the future will bring, especially with the rise of disruptive technologies, new generations of founders, and strong support from ecosystem partners.”
