Following LaunchPad @ One-North's 10-year anniversary in 2025, JTC has unveiled a refreshed masterplan to position LaunchPad as Asia's Flagship Startup Destination, seeding next-gen innovation in Singapore. The masterplan comprises three pillars: enhanced and dedicated infrastructure to support growing industry clusters; facilitative policies to support startups at all stages; and new community building programmes to catalyse and grow startup communities. 

Building on Singapore's startup ecosystem strengths

Singapore has one of the fastest growing startup ecosystems in the world, coming in 4th in StartupBlink’s 2025 Global Startup Ecosystem Index, behind the US, the UK, and Israel. We are home to over 4,500 tech startups and more than 500 global venture capital firms and angel investors.

Startups based in Singapore benefit greatly from location density, where they can access funds, talent, and opportunities within a vibrant ecosystem. Since its launch in 2015, LaunchPad @ One-North has transformed into a vibrant hub spanning seven blocks, including Block 71 Ayer Rajah Crescent. These have housed over 2,400 startups, including tech unicorns like Carousell, PatSnap, and Nium, and are host to over 30 incubators, accelerators, and venture capital firms.

Shaping LaunchPad @ One-North’s refreshed masterplan through industry consultations

As part of its masterplan review, JTC conducted a series of engagements with the startup ecosystem. AI was highlighted by these stakeholders as a critical and disruptive technology that will impact all industries. They urged Singapore to foster a vibrant startup community of AI leaders, practitioners, and researchers, who will innovate with AI at the frontier, and bring these opportunities to Singapore and Singaporeans. 

Creating unique work-live-collaborate opportunities at Kampong AI, Singapore’s Hub and Home for AI

Kampong AI, Singapore’s Hub and Home for AI, will be the first integrated startup community in Singapore with both work and living spaces. Slated for completion in 2028, Kampong AI will feature two repurposed blocks. The AI block will provide 14,500 square metres of business park units to accommodate up to 70 companies and event spaces , and the adjacent block will offer residential accommodation with over 200 dwelling units. It will be where AI startup founders, talent, corporates, venture builders and capital, and academia come together to address the most pressing challenges that AI can help solve. 

A pilot phase of Kampong AI will be launched from March 2026, with existing workspaces in LaunchPad @ One-North for AI companies and startups to have a head start. AI-driven enterprises can already access MDDI's Lorong AI, a collaborative workspace for the AI community, which recently opened a second site in Vidacity at LaunchPad @ One-North. 

Several leading AI players have already begun exploring spaces within Kampong AI. Besides access to LaunchPad @ One-North, their proximity to industry leaders like Grab, Razer, and Sea, and research institutions like NUS and A*STAR create opportunities for partnerships and pathways to scale. 

Jacqueline Poh, Chief Executive of JTC, said: "Kampong AI will be anchored within LaunchPad @ One-North, one of Southeast Asia's densest and most dynamic startup ecosystems, nested in a high-tech district.  We intend to bring together a focused cluster of AI-driven enterprises under one roof, with dedicated infrastructure and live-work convenience that founders need to move fast, scale smart, and attract world-class talent from across the globe.” 

Marcus Tan, the co-founder of Carousell and Deputy Chairman of the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), said: “LaunchPad @ One-North was instrumental to Carousell’s early journey from a young upstart to a scaled tech company building for the region, and it’s exciting to see innovation evolve. As we further invest in AI to make the world more circular, JTC’s vision for Kampong AI aligns perfectly with our focus on building world-class AI capabilities in Singapore. We look forward to exchanging insights with both global leaders and the next generation of AI startups in this vibrant community.”

Beyond Kampong AI, JTC will refresh LaunchPad @ One-North's infrastructure to support the growing startup community. New event spaces, sports facilities, and networking areas will provide venues for collaboration and community building. Enhanced sheltered connectivity, including new covered linkways between blocks, will ensure seamless pedestrian flow with up to ten minutes sheltered walk to the One-North and Kent Ridge MRT stations. Expanded food and beverage options will also be available to serve the community. 

Facilitative policies to support startups of all stages 

JTC will streamline administrative processes, provide flexible support across the startup lifecycle, and facilitate market access to reinforce LaunchPad @ One-North as a business-friendly startup destination. 

New community building programmes to catalyse and grow startup communities

JTC will also curate new programmes to create more structured opportunities for collaboration, mentorship and market access. Community managers will orchestrate partnerships between startups and corporates, connect founders with experienced mentors, and organise workshops and hackathons that enable startups to solve challenges together and share technical expertise.

New LaunchPad at Punggol Digital District (LaunchPad @ PDD)

To augment JTC’s offering of startup spaces islandwide, JTC will establish the new LaunchPad @ PDD in phases from late 2026.

As a smart and sustainable industrial district embedded within the community, LaunchPad @ PDD will house startups that can leverage the entire district to testbed innovations in smart city solutions, fintech, robotics and cybersecurity. A key pillar of the smart district ecosystem is PDD’s Open Digital Platform (ODP), which collects district data and powers a digital twin which allows lifelike simulations to test solutions. When innovations are ready for real-world pilots, ODP will link the innovations to PDD’s infrastructure – lifts, gantries, and doors – for deployment throughout the district. 

dConstruct Robotics, a Singapore-based robotics and embodied AI startup, is looking to pilot applications such as autonomous delivery in PDD – where robots can navigate buildings, clear security gantries, and even take lifts to deliver parcels or food directly to users.