Singapore AI Startup Akro Raises US$700,000 to Automate Complex Data Workflows

Singapore-based artificial intelligence startup Akro has raised US$700,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Amigos Venture Capital, with participation from strategic angel investors in financial services, healthcare, and consumer technology. The startup, founded in 2025 by Marcus Quek, develops proprietary AI models designed to read scanned documents, handwriting, and complex forms for enterprise and government clients.

Akro's platform automates data extraction, validation, and reporting for highly regulated industries including defence, logistics, and finance. The company said it will deploy the fresh capital toward expanding its engineering team and purchasing dedicated AI hardware to deepen its research capabilities. The round underscores continued investor appetite for Singapore-based AI startups targeting enterprise automation in compliance-heavy sectors.

This latest injection of capital builds on a wave of early-stage funding for Singapore AI startups in 2026, as investors increasingly bet on founders building vertical AI solutions for regulated markets rather than general-purpose tools. Akro's focus on document-heavy workflows in defence and finance positions it in a segment where accuracy and privacy are paramount — and where incumbents have been slow to innovate.

Why it matters for Singapore: Akro's pre-seed round is a small but telling data point in Singapore's AI startup ecosystem. It reflects a shift toward specialised AI that addresses real operational friction in regulated industries, a segment where Singapore's status as a trusted business hub gives local startups a natural advantage. The involvement of Amigos Venture Capital, an active SG-based investor, also signals that local early-stage capital remains available for founders building deep-tech solutions with clear enterprise use cases.