Forbes Asia 100 To Watch 2025
Asia-Pacific’s small companies and startups on the rise.
Our fifth annual Forbes Asia 100 to Watch list provides a window into the vibrant world of startups and small companies in the Asia-Pacific region. It’s a constantly evolving ecosystem, which is increasingly focusing on AI and deep tech to innovate and thrive.
The promising news is that VC funding in the region, which had fallen to a ten-year low at the end of 2024, has seen an uptick in some countries this year. According to a recent KPMG report, India, Japan and Singapore are drawing more risk capital this year, a trend this compendium also reflects. A total of 16 countries and territories are represented on our list and India leads the pack with 18 companies, followed by Singapore and Japan (14 each), China (9), Indonesia and South Korea (8 each) and Australia (7).
Investors also favor fast-rising sectors such as biotechnology, spacetech and green tech, and our list is well-populated by companies in those fields—from enterprises developing gene-editing therapies for cancer treatments to those producing new anode material for lithium-ion batteries or building novel propulsion systems for spacecraft. They are grouped under ten industry categories with the largest cohort (18) in biotechnology and healthcare followed by enterprise technology and robotics (16). Overall, the 100 companies on the list have drawn nearly $3 billion in funding to date, compared with $2 billion raised by last year’s group.
Edited by Rana Wehbe Watson
Assistant editors: Catherine Wang and Yue Wang
Research and reporting: Jonathan Burgos, John Kang, Yessar Rosendar, Ian Sayson, James Simms, Jennifer Wells and Ardian Wibisono
Methodology
To select the finalists on the 100 to Watch list, Forbes Asia solicited online submissions, and invited accelerators, incubators, universities, venture capitalists and others to nominate companies as well. To qualify for consideration, companies had to be headquartered in the Asia-Pacific region, be privately owned for-profit ventures, and have no more than $50 million in annual revenue and no more than $100 million in total funding through Aug. 15. Our team evaluated each submission, weighing factors such as impact on and contribution to their industry and region, market fit, promising business model, innovation, track record of consistent revenue growth and the ability to attract funding.
*The editors reserve the right to remove or replace any company or individual included in the list in light of any new information that would disqualify them from inclusion.
Aetech
South Korea
Category: Energy & Green Tech
Year founded: 2020 • CEO: Taehyung Park
Aetech has devised an automated alternative to the laborious task of manually sorting waste: an AI-powered robot, Atron, which the startup says can double recycling efficiency. So far, some 20 Atrons have been deployed at South Korean waste management facilities, logistics centers and industrial complexes. With more than $13 million raised, including from GS Ventures, the VC arm of South Korea’s GS Group, it’s eyeing expansion into Australia, Singapore and Vietnam. Aetech took a bronze in the category of manufacturing and logistics production process innovation at the 2025 Edison Awards.