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Chinese-founded, Singapore-based AI startups: The next Manus might be on this list

Plenty of Chinese founders are building AI companies in the city-state

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    • A Chinese founding team started it in China, then moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2025.
    • A Chinese founding team started it in China, then moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2025. PHOTO: BLOOMBERG

    Duc Tran

    Published Sat, Feb 28, 2026 · 10:00 AM

    MANUS became Singapore’s first billion-dollar artificial intelligence (AI) startup after Meta’s acquisition. But it was not originally from the city-state.

    A Chinese founding team started it in China, then moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2025. The neutral ground helped it sidestep US-China tensions and enabled its acquisition by a US tech giant.

    Will Singapore see another Manus? Plenty of Chinese founders are building AI companies in the city-state, whether from scratch or through recent relocations.

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