- Cradle Fund has designed event as a regional stage to scale startups beyond borders
- Strong industry backing with Alliance Bank coming on board as the Title Sponsor
The biggest event Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd, an agency under Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI), will be hosting this year starts on Mon Nov 3 to Nov 5 with the Cradle LIVE! Startup ASEAN Summit 2025 held at three different venues in Kuala Lumpur.
Anchored on Cradle LIVE! Cradle’s year-round startup engagement platform, the summit is structured around three signature experiences:
- Day 1: IGNITE at Heritage Valley, Kuala Lumpur – Showcasing Malaysia’s homegrown champions and over 100 Cradle grant alumni.
- Day 2: CONNECT at JioSpace, Petaling Jaya – A vibrant innovation marketplace featuring regional startup pavilions, and the Startup ASEAN x Infobip Shift, a global tech developer conference series making its Southeast Asia debut, and Korea-ASEAN AI Youth Festa by NIPA.
- Day 3: ELEVATE at Zepp Kuala Lumpur – A finale bringing together Southeast Asia’s sharpest minds with headline keynotes, high-stakes panels, inspiring showcases, and world class performances.
Carrying the theme “Scaling Startups Beyond Borders”, the summit is the first ASEAN tech startup conference under the ASEAN-Malaysia Chairmanship 2025 and is recognised as a Priority Economic Deliverable (PED) for the nation. It will gather over 3,000 participants including startups, investors, and policymakers from all 10 ASEAN Member States (AMS) and across the globe.
Chang Lih Kang, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, said “Last June, we completed the development of the Startup ASEAN platform – a first-of- its-kind regional gateway to connect and empower startups across ASEAN. Now, we are thrilled to take the next bold step by hosting the region’s first-ever ASEAN tech startup conference under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship.”
Chang described the summit as representing a collective commitment to build an integrated ASEAN startup ecosystem, “one that lowers barriers for founders to expand, fosters trust among regional investors, and positions our homegrown innovations to compete on the global stage.”
Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke, Group CEO of Cradle, said “What makes the Startup ASEAN Summit unique is the way it’s built around the people who power this ecosystem – the founders, builders, and risk takers who are shaping our region’s future. We’re not just bringing them together; we are curating connections that would otherwise take months or years to build.”
Cradle said it has designed the Startup ASEAN Summit to link startups directly with regional investors and corporates and opening doors into new ASEAN markets. “This gives founders the momentum they need to scale beyond borders – and to show the world what ASEAN innovation can do,” added Norman.
The summit has also attracted strong industry backing with Alliance Bank coming on board as the Title Sponsor.
Kellee Kam, Group CEO of Alliance Bank, emphasised “As Title Sponsor, Alliance Bank will power the summit alongside Cradle. Our partnership with the agency has always been defined by a shared commitment to nurturing Malaysia’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, and it is far from a one-off collaboration – it is a long- standing partnership.”
Kellee noted that over the years, Alliance Bank has worked closely together with Cradle to empower young entrepreneurs, with its BizSmart® Challenge programme, “serving as a prime example of what we can achieve together. We’re excited to build on that success through this summit.”
To further strengthen this vision of cross-border collaboration, the summit will also feature global ecosystem partners. Among them, Infobip, Croatia’s first unicorn, will bring its renowned global tech developer conference to the region for the first time through Startup ASEAN x Infobip Shift, and the Korea-ASEAN AI Youth Festa, a transformative initiative, funded by the ASEAN-Korea Cooperation Fund (AKCF), and implemented by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA) to foster AI innovation and sustainable development across the ASEAN and Korea – taking place on Nov 4.
Ivan Brezak Brkan, Developer Experience Director at Infobip, said “After successful editions in Croatia and Miami, Shift has become a global platform for developers and builders to connect, learn, and build the future of AI and technology. We’re proud to partner with Cradle to bring Infobip Shift to Kuala Lumpur, marking a new chapter for Southeast Asia’s developer tech community. This collaboration reflects our shared commitment to empowering the engineering and tech community, and to accelerating digital innovation across ASEAN.”
Participants are encouraged to secure their place at the ASEAN startup ecosystem at www.cradle.com.my/cradlelive/.
