Tenity has wrapped up the first phase of SingHacks 2025, marking the debut of Asia’s first hackathon dedicated to agentic AI in the financial sector. The second and final phase will take place on 14 November at the Singapore FinTech Festival, where six finalist teams will compete for top honours.
A new chapter for fintech innovation
Held from 31 October to 2 November, the 48-hour hackathon brought together more than 270 participants from across Asia, including students, developers, and industry professionals. Hosted at Visa’s Singapore Innovation Center and Catapult at Rochester Commons, the event saw teams and individuals collaborate on building enterprise-ready agentic AI solutions aimed at transforming banking, Web3, and insurance.
The event was powered by Tenity and supported by key sponsors and partners including Julius Baer, Hedera Foundation, Ancileo x MSIG, AMD, Visa, and Groq. The initiative followed the blueprint of SwissHacks, Switzerland’s leading government-backed hackathon developed by the Swiss State Secretariat for International Finance (SIF) and powered by Tenity’s Zurich hub. It was also endorsed by the Global Finance & Technology Network, organisers of the Singapore FinTech Festival.
Jonas Thürig, Vice President for APAC and Managing Partner at Tenity, said: “Singapore’s position as a leading global hub in both finance and AI makes our first-ever SingHacks hackathon a timely one as the world is embracing agentic AI, and we look forward to conducting more hackathons to accelerate innovation and collaboration. SingHacks 2025 was conceptualised with the goal to foster the research and development of enterprise-ready solutions for the financial services sector, to support innovators, financial institutions, and ecosystem partners who were eager to explore agentic AI agents but lacked a low-risk environment to experiment with their prototypes.”
Industry-backed challenges and enterprise-ready solutions
Participants were guided by mentors from the financial and technology sectors, including experts from AMD, Visa, and Groq. Teams selected one of three challenge tracks to focus their efforts.
The RegTech Intelligence Challenge by Julius Baer tasked participants with building agentic AI systems to surface compliance risks, flag transactions, and streamline onboarding in banking. The Empowered Finance Challenge by Hedera Foundation encouraged teams to develop AI systems for payments, identity, and impact to support inclusive blockchain innovation. The Conversational Insurance Challenge, co-organised by Ancileo and MSIG, aimed to create agentic AI systems that transform travel insurance into seamless conversational experiences for consumers and insurers alike.
After two days of intense development, participants presented their prototypes to a jury comprising executives and experts from partner organisations. Ten teams were recognised for their creativity and problem-solving, with the third-place winners in each track receiving cash prizes. The six top-performing teams were selected to advance to the grand finals, to be held on 14 November at the Singapore Expo’s Catalyst Stage, where the winners will be announced.
Olivier Michel, CEO and Founder of Ancileo, commented: “It was a privilege for us to be part of Tenity’s successful SingHacks and witness first-hand the creativity and fresh perspectives participants brought to the table. The innovations from the hackathon are a testament to how such programmes play a crucial role in shaping the future of the financial sector and drive meaningful progress by empowering emerging talents and leveraging the transformative potential of AI.”
Strengthening Singapore’s fintech and AI ecosystem
SingHacks aligns with Singapore’s national drive to strengthen its leadership in AI and financial technology. The initiative complements ongoing programmes by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), and AI Singapore, including the National Artificial Intelligence Programme in Finance and the Global AI Assurance Pilot.
Tenity’s commitment to driving innovation extends beyond the hackathon. Since establishing its Singapore hub in 2020, the company has supported over 40 startups in Southeast Asia through accelerator and co-investment programmes. Between 2023 and 2025, Tenity expanded its presence through initiatives such as the XRPL Accelerator, the flagship Fin/Tech Accelerator, and the KB Starters Program in partnership with South Korea’s KB Financial Group. These programmes underscore Tenity’s role as a launchpad for early-stage innovation across the Asia-Pacific region.
Globally, Tenity has collaborated with more than 65 corporate clients, facilitated over 250 partnerships between startups and enterprises, and conducted over 100 innovation programmes across more than 15 countries. Through its hybrid model of venture capital and open innovation, Tenity enables financial institutions and tech companies to turn innovation goals into tangible business outcomes while giving investors early access to high-potential deal flow.
