SWITCH Converge

10:40AM - 11:25AM

Go Beyond Physical Limits: How the Quantum-AI Convergence Will Drive Singapore’s Next Economic Chapter

This session frames Quantum Computing not as a distant research project, but as the natural continuation of Singapore’s national economic strategy. By pairing high-level narrative framing with practical enterprise use cases, a live algorithm demonstration, a multi-stakeholder panel, and an academic MOU exchange, the session demonstrates how public-private collaboration is positioning Singapore as APAC's premier deep-tech hub.

11:35AM - 12:20PM

E-conomy Report

12:30PM - 1:15PM

The Scale-up mentality: preparing to go global from Day 1​

Expanding into new markets is a major milestone for any startup, but successful international growth requires more than market knowledge and the right connections. The foundations for expansion often need to be built well before entering a new market.

This session explores how founders can plan for international growth from the outset, from identifying the right markets and understanding local customers to adapting their business model, building partnerships and preparing their teams for expansion. Hear from market access specialists and founders who have scaled across borders as they share practical lessons on what it takes to enter new markets successfully—and how to know when your startup is ready to make the move.

1:25PM - 2:10PM

Staying competitive in a Native AI world​​

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how startups are built, not just how they operate. As AI capabilities continue to advance, founders have an opportunity to move beyond using AI as a productivity tool and start designing AI-native products, workflows and business models from the ground up. This session explores what it means to build a Native AI startup in today's rapidly evolving landscape. Hear from AI practitioners and technology leaders as they explore what it takes to build an AI-native startup. Discover the technical capabilities, talent and infrastructure required to build and scale AI-native businesses, and learn how founders can position their startups to remain competitive in the next wave of innovation.

2:20PM - 3:05PM

Building Future-Ready Founders Through Human–AI Collaboration​

As AI transforms the way businesses are created and operated, the next generation of founders will need more than access to AI tools—they will need the capabilities to identify opportunities, make strategic decisions, and build ventures where humans and AI work together effectively. This discussion explores how founders can develop AI-enabled entrepreneurial capabilities, supported by collaboration across the innovation ecosystem, including higher education, industry, and startup communities.

4:10PM - 4:55PM

Extended Reality: From Exploration to Real-World Impact​

Extended Reality (XR) is entering a new era with AI, enabling richer immersive experiences, smarter workflows and new ways for businesses to engage customers and empower their workforce. As more organisations move beyond pilots to real-world deployment, understanding where XR creates measurable value has never been more important.

Join IMDA for the launch of the XR Playbook for Enterprises and their tech showcase from enterprise adopters as they share practical lessons, implementation journeys and live demonstrations. Discover how organisations can assess, adopt and scale AI-enabled XR solutions to unlock real business impact.

5:05PM - 5:50PM

Building the Moat: How Layered IP Protects, Earns, and Raises

Founders are often told their IP is their moat, but a moat is not a single wall. The most defensible startups often layer different forms of IP across their business. Each layer does more than block competitors. It enables the core revenue model, and it shapes the investment decision. In this session, a panel of founders and investors goes over what a real company's IP stack looks like, what these layers achieve for the business, and how it shapes the investor's view in deciding whether to invest. Founders leave with a practical understanding of what a real-world IP moat looks like, and insights to reflect on their own IP moat and spot any gaps.

12:30PM - 1:15PM

Unlocking Paths to your Next Milestone: Rethinking Startup Financing​

You’ve successfully raised your first round of funding, but how do you continue to scale without giving up more equity for the startup dream you’ve worked so hard to achieve? Financing your startup doesn't have to follow a fixed path.

This session unpacks the alternative financing options available to founders ready to scale, exploring how debt financing and revenue-based funding can provide the working capital needed to reach your next milestone.

1:25PM - 2:10PM

Profit Meets Purpose: Financing the Sustainability Revolution​

Sustainability can no longer be a checkbox on an ESG report – it has to be a business model that attracts real capital. This session brings together the investors, founders, and policymakers redefining what “impact” actually means to funders in 2026: not charity, not greenwashing, but measurable returns alongside measurable planetary and social outcomes. We will unpack how blended finance structures are de-risking climate deals, what impact-first VCs actually screen for before writing a check, and how founders can build sustainability into their unit economics rather than bolting it on for a pitch deck. If you’re building – or funding – the next generation of climate tech, circular economy, or social impact ventures, this is where you learn how the money is actually moving.

2:20PM - 3:05PM

Building a Startup Worth Buying​

In the excitement of kicking off your startup dream, it might be easy to overlook the importance of an exit strategy. Exits are an important stage in a startup’s journey, a sound exit strategy helps a startup to maximise its value, mitigate risk, and even be more attractive to investors. This session delves into the significance of having a well-thought-out exit strategy and provide insights from various perspectives. Panel of different perspectives: VCs, corporate investors, or startups that have grown with an exit strategy.

3:15PM - 4:00PM

From Messy to Investor-Ready: What Your Cap Table Says About You

A cap table is not just a spreadsheet. It tells the story of ownership, decision-making, dilution, and founder control, and it's one of the first things investors quietly look at when a founder walks in to raise. This panel brings together two founders who've been through institutional rounds and an investor who's reviewed cap tables during diligence. They'll cover what cap table clarity actually signals to investors, how early decisions come back in later fundraising conversations, and why knowing your cap table is a founder responsibility, not just a finance task.

4:10PM - 4:55PM

The Negotiation Room: A Live Term Sheet Showdown

Term Sheet negotiations happen behind closed doors – which means most founders walk into the biggest financial conversation of their startup’s life having never actually seen one unfold. Seal the Deal changes that. Watch a real investor and a founder go head-to-head in an unscripted, high-stakes negotiation performed live on stage – valuation pushback, liquidation preference haggling, board seat trade-offs, and the awkward silences that come with them. This isn’t a polished panel; it’s a genuine negotiation with real tactics, real leverage plays, and real tension, followed by a rapid-fire debrief where both sides break character to explain what they were really thinking, what they’d concede, and where they’d walk away. Part theatre, part masterclass – this is the closest founders will get to sitting inside the room before they’re actually in it.

5:05PM - 5:50PM

Beyond VC: Family Capital, Corporates and Funding Your Next Market​

Venture capital is often the first port of call for startups as they scale beyond their home markets, particularly across Southeast Asia, but it is not the only source of capital. Family offices and corporate investors are playing an increasingly important role alongside venture capital, often bringing market access, distribution networks and industry relationships that can be particularly valuable when entering a second market.

These relationships, however, work differently. Diligence can be slower and more personal, terms may be less standardised, and strategic alignment can matter as much as valuation. This session will bring together family capital, corporate investors and founders who have raised from them to explore how these investors evaluate opportunities, where they complement traditional venture funding, and the trade-offs founders should consider.

10:40AM - 10:55AM

Rethinking Team building with interdisciplinary expertise

AI is becoming embedded across almost every industry, and demand for AI talent is accelerating. The most in-demand profiles today are professionals who combine deep domain knowledge with AI fluency, for example, AI with engineering, or life sciences with data science. These hybrid profiles are rare, and the gap is widening.

For founders, this means rethinking what to look for when hiring. Interdisciplinary talent who can bridge AI and the problem domain is often more valuable than a strong technical hire alone, because beyond technical ability, what matters is judgment - knowing when to trust the output, when to push back, and which tasks should or should not be automated. That judgment comes from lived understanding of an industry, an organisation, or a customer relationship, and that's not something AI can replicate easily.

10:55AM - 11:40AM

The New Talent Equation

AI is reshaping not only how startups build products, but how they build teams. Hear firsthand from AI founders, talent leaders, and ecosystem experts on how they are redesigning team structures, balancing AI with human expertise, and preparing for a future where every employee works alongside AI. The discussion will explore responsible AI and hiring practices, how leaders determine what work should be automated versus human-led, and what it takes to build high-performing teams that can adapt, innovate, and thrive in an AI-first world.

11:50AM - 12:25PM

What it’s like working in a deep tech startup

What's the real experience of working in a deep tech startup? What keeps both founders and talent engaged? This session brings together founders and talent to share honest stories about day-to-day realities: the autonomy, the intensity, the learning curve. Talent share what excites and challenges them, what keeps them committed. Founders share what they're seeing in their teams and what keeps them driven. Together, they explore how to build environments where both can thrive, and discover resources available to support that.

1:30PM - 2:45PM

From LinkedIn Profile to IRL People​

Your LinkedIn profile may get you noticed - but what makes someone trust you, remember you and want to start a conversation? Through live profile makeovers and practical networking exercises, discover how to communicate your strengths with substance, make better asks and turn online visibility into genuine real-world relationships - without sounding performative.

The goal is not to look more impressive than you are. It is to become more legible, credible and connectable.