SGInnovate invests in Singapore AI startup Aida Technologies

SINGAPORE government-owned deep technology development firm SGInnovate has made an investment of undisclosed size into Singapore-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Aida Technologies.

The announcement was made in conjunction with SGInnovate's Arise deep tech event, part of the innovfest unbound 2018 technology showcase. SGInnovate has a mandate to nurture deep-tech startups.

SGInnovate's investment said that its investment is centred on Aida Technologies' straight-through processing (STP) engine, which is currently deployed with a "major insurer" in Singapore and was built to speed up processing of its health insurance claims.

Shortening processing times from "days to mere seconds", the STP engine processes thousands of claims monthly, SGInnovate said in its media statement.

Singapore-based Aida has also developed its so-called Outlier engine to speedily identify inconsistencies in health claims and alert claims officers of possible fraud.

Aida Technologies' chief executive Tan Geok Leng highlighted that its STP tech is now being evaluated by "tier one" insurance companies in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.

"Aida is very excited to be given the opportunity to partner SGInnovate to bring our products and solutions to a wider audience," Dr Tan said.

Dr Tan was previously executive director at A*Star's Institute for Infocomm Research, and was also the Infocomm Development Authority's chief technology officer.

In the near future, Aida will continue to scale its STP technology for insurance industries in Singapore and the region.

SGInnovate said that going forward it will help bring about viable products through Aida's STP solution, and said the savings generated from such AI-assisted health claims process could translate to more manageable premiums for policyholders.

Founding chief executive of SGInnovate Steve Leonard highlighted Aida's "vision and capability" to improve the financial industry's safety and efficiency.

"We want to use our various capabilities to boost Aida's growth, so their expertise in data analytics and machine learning can add real value to the banking and financial services industry," he said.