Google Cloud connects Southeast Asia to Silicon Valley AI startup corridor

A New Initiative to Empower AI Startups in Southeast Asia

Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), Indonesia’s Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs (Komdigi), the Vietnam National Innovation Centre (NIC), and the Startup and Innovation Hub of Ho Chi Minh City (SIHUB) are among the key stakeholders involved in a new cross-border initiative called Google for Startups Accelerator: Southeast Asia. This program is designed to empower founders by helping them develop and commercialise proprietary agentic AI products. Through integrated engineering and go-to-market partnerships with Google Cloud, it offers a clear pathway for Southeast Asian AI startups to scale internationally.

The initiative was launched during Google for Startups Sprint, a one-day event at Google’s Asia-Pacific headquarters. The event brought together startups, Singapore-based investors, and government leaders. It also showcased AI startups from the Google for Startups alumni network—a community of thousands of founders across 85 countries who have benefited from Google for Startups Accelerator programs.

Since 2018, these accelerators have helped more than 200 early-stage startups in Southeast Asia build new products, raise $6.6 billion in funding, and create 11,300 jobs. They have also facilitated scaled customer acquisition or new market entry for many of these startups.

Sami Kizilbash, head of Developer Ecosystems, Asia-Pacific, Google Cloud, said, “Building on this success, Google for Startups Accelerator: Southeast Asia aims to serve Seed to Series B AI startups across industries and six countries, with EnterpriseSG, Komdigi, and NIC and SIHUB providing additional tailored support for startups from Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam, respectively.”

Ben King, managing director of Google Singapore, added, “AI startups have told us that the jump from product-market fit to international expansion is their hardest leap. Google for Startups Accelerator: Southeast Asia, which is part of Google’s ‘Majulah AI’ initiative, is designed to bridge this exact gap.”

“By connecting founders and developers with best-in-class resources and global tech hubs through the innovation corridor, we’re providing them with a clear runway to commercialise frontier AI at scale. Our collaboration with EnterpriseSG also advances the global growth ambitions of local ventures aligned with Singapore’s AI Missions. Together, we’re supporting entrepreneurs at every stage of their innovation journey, cementing Singapore’s position as a trusted node for proven solutions that drive meaningful societal and economic impact.”

Immersive Residency Program

The program features an immersive, in-person California residency, where founders undergo technical deep-dives at leading technology hubs—including Google’s Mountain View and San Francisco campuses—and engage directly with venture capital clusters along Sand Hill Road and Palo Alto. This immersion enables them to stress-test and optimise their products against global benchmarks while cultivating the peer-level collaborations and institutional ties crucial for international scale.

Vu Quoc Huy, director of NIC, highlighted the “AI for the Future” initiative by NIC and Google, which had already supported more than 500 Vietnamese startups, helping connect local firms with partners in Singapore and Silicon Valley.

“Building on this momentum, Google for Startups Accelerator: Southeast Asia serves as a bridge between cutting-edge tech startups in our priority sectors and partners in Singapore and Silicon Valley. By facilitating collaboration in advanced fields like agentic AI and embodied AI, we’re helping to transform research breakthroughs into the next wave of enterprise and industrial solutions, boosting Vietnam’s national competitiveness and driving market productivity gains,” Huy said.

Strengthening International Connections

Meanwhile, Dang Thi Luan, director of SIHUB, said the partnership with Google Cloud would help accelerate the commercialisation of Vietnamese AI startups while creating stronger international connections for the country’s innovation ecosystem.

“As the nucleus of Ho Chi Minh City’s innovation ecosystem—now ranked among the world’s top 100—SIHUB is committed to fast-tracking the transition from technical proof-of-concept to commercial success. Our collaboration with Google Cloud creates a two-way corridor: a conduit for high-potential Vietnamese AI startups to scale internationally, and a trusted gateway for their regional peers to enter our vibrant market,” Luan said.