Groundup.ai Named NextGen Tech 30 as Asia's Top Start-Ups Move from Software to Physical AI

Granite Asia and SGX recognise Groundup.ai among the 30 growth-stage companies defining the region's next wave of technology, a cohort now led by Physical AI built for the real world.

Founding Team Member, Yong Tai Chan at the NextGen Tech 30 event.

SINGAPORE – 30 September 2026 – Groundup.ai, the industrial machine intelligence company and pioneer of Agentic AI for Cognitive Maintenance, has been named one of 30 honourees in the 2026 NextGen Tech 30 (NGT30), ASEAN's first public-private initiative, led by Granite Asia and the Singapore Exchange (SGX), recognising the region's most promising growth-stage technology companies.

Groundup.ai received its NextGen Tech 30 award at a ceremony graced by Guest-of-Honour Mr Chee Hong Tat, Minister for National Development and Deputy Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore, who presented the recognition to this year's honourees.

This year's list marks a turning point. According to Granite Asia, more than half of the 2026 cohort are building Physical AI, taking artificial intelligence out of the browser and into the real world, from underwater drones and cancer screening to industrial maintenance. Groundup.ai represents that shift where it is hardest and matters most: on the critical machines that keep factories, fleets, and infrastructure running.

The recognition also reflects a shift in the centre of gravity toward Singapore and the real economy. Singapore's share of the NGT30 has risen sharply, from 18 per cent in 2024 to 42 per cent in 2026, as deep-tech companies take on the physical problems software alone could never solve.

Groundup.ai's inclusion caps its strongest commercial year to date: eight-figure, multi-year contracts, expansion across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Europe, and a recent open-tender win with PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, to bring Cognitive Maintenance to the nation's water infrastructure.

"For years, the headlines belonged to software. This list is a signal that the next chapter of AI is physical," said Leon Lim, CEO & Founder of Groundup.ai. 

"The hardest, most valuable problems left in the world are sitting on factory floors and inside pumps, motors and compressors, machines that simply can't afford to fail. To be recognised among the companies building AI for that world, and to do it from Singapore, is exactly where we want to be."

Groundup.ai's Cognitive Maintenance platform, powered by its proprietary Asset Library and GINA engine, reasons across vibration, sound and thermal data to diagnose faults and guide operators before failures happen. As ageing assets and an ageing workforce collide across the region, the company expects demand for Physical AI that can capture and scale expert judgement to accelerate.