Editor’s note: TNGlobal is a partner of The Cradle LIVE! Startup ASEAN Summit 2025
The Cradle LIVE! Startup ASEAN Summit 2025 concluded on Wednesday with a renewed call for regional collaboration to drive ASEAN’s innovation and startup ecosystem to greater heights. The event was graced by Chang Lih Kang, Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) with the presence of Dr. Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General of ASEAN.
Organized by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and its agency Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (Cradle), with Alliance Bank as the Title Partner, the three-day summit brought together over 3,000 participants from all ASEAN Member States (AMS) and across the globe including government representatives, investors, ecosystem builders, and startups founders – in a collective effort to strengthen ASEAN’s position as a global hub for innovation and entrepreneurship.
The summit carried the theme “Scaling Startups Beyond Borders”, representing the region’s first ASEAN tech startup conference under Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship 2025. Recognised as one of the nation’s Priority Economic Deliverables (PED), the event built on momentum of the Startup ASEAN platform, which was launched in June 2025 to connect and empower startups across the region.
Chang Lih Kang, Minister of MOSTI, said the summit represents a major step forward in strengthening regional collaboration and aligning collective policies and efforts to strengthen the ASEAN startup ecosystem.
“As we move forward into 2026, we will deepen cooperation in innovation policy, investment, and talent mobility – ensuring that no country, no startup, no innovator is left behind.
Malaysia, through MOSTI and Cradle, will continue to engage closely with our ASEAN counterparts, ecosystem partners, and the private sector to ensure that Startup ASEAN continues to grow as a sustainable and impactful regional movement,” added Chang.
Reflecting on the summit’s outcomes, Norman Matthieu Vanhaecke, Group Chief Executive Officer of Cradle, said the event reinforces Malaysia’s position as a key driver of the regional startup movement.
“This summit represents Cradle’s commitment to driving regional innovation from the ground up. As Malaysia’s startup focal agency, we see this platform as a catalyst to unite founders, investors, and policymakers around a shared mission to scale innovation across ASEAN. By fostering stronger cross-border connection, we are laying the foundation for a sustainable and globally competitive regional startup ecosystem.”
“Alliance Bank’s collaboration with Cradle at the summit highlights our commitment to empowering startups and SMEs through strategic partnerships. We are also proud to launch the Innovation Impact Lab with Cradle and Monash University, enabling SMEs to co-create and scale, leveraging on innovation, tech advancement and circularity. As The Bank For Life, we support startups and SMEs at every stage of their journey, helping build a future-ready ecosystem that drives sustainable growth,” said Kellee Kam, Group Chief Executive Officer of Alliance Bank.
The Cradle LIVE! Startup ASEAN Summit 2025 featured keynote sessions, startup showcases, and networking engagements that spotlighted success stories, investment trends, and cross border collaboration opportunities. Over three (3) days, the summit offered a dynamic journey through IGNITE, CONNECT, and ELEVATE – celebrating Malaysia’s homegrown champions and Cradle alumni, featuring regional startups pavilions, the Korea-ASEAN AI Youth Festa, and Startup ASEAN x Infobip Shift, the first-ever Asian edition of Infobip’s global developer conference.
The event highlighted Malaysia’s growing role in the global developer ecosystem and Infobip’s continued commitment to empowering developers worldwide.
The summit also marked two (2) significant milestones – the launch of the Impact Innovation Lab, a collaboration between Cradle, Alliance Bank, and Monash University Malaysia to support sustainable, impact-driven startups addressing social, environmental, and economic challenges, and the exchange of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Cradle and Sunway Group to strengthen public-private partnerships in nurturing startups.
The event was further supported by strategic ecosystem partners including Grab, PayNet, Sunway iLabs, and Sidec – along with other valued collaborators, whose collective efforts played a pivotal role in advancing innovation and entrepreneurship across Malaysia and the region.
Looking ahead, the next phase of ASEAN’s innovation journey is about building the infrastructure of collaboration – framework, networks, and policies that allow ideas to scale seamlessly across borders. This foundation will ultimately pave the way for the creation of a Digital Centre of Excellence, driving inclusive growth and sustainable innovation across ASEAN.
The Cradle LIVE! Startup ASEAN Summit 2025 marks the successful conclusion of one of Malaysia’s Priority Economic Deliverables (PED) under MOSTI and Cradle – reinforcing the nation’s commitment to advancing innovation, empowering startups, and positioning ASEAN as a globally competitive and borderless innovation bloc.