As Singapore accelerates its national AI strategy – including plans announced by Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to establish a National AI Council and expand the country’s AI ecosystem – a new generation of AI companies is emerging alongside this push.
One of them is Agnes AI, a Singapore-based model company that powers several AI applications, which just surpassed tens of millions of dollars in annual recurring revenue (ARR). The company is also working towards a possible listing on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) by the end of 2026, as it continues to expand its global AI platform. The milestone reflects both the company’s rapid growth and a broader shift in how AI platforms are built and deployed globally.
“Our models deliver about 90% of the best-in-class AI capabilities for about 10% of the cost,” said Bruce Yang, founder and CEO of Agnes AI. “This efficiency allows us to bring advanced AI to a much broader audience than traditional AI platforms. »
For Yang, the opportunity lies in what he calls the “other 99.5%” of the Internet, billions of users who have never used high-end AI tools.
“Agnes is a Singapore-based AI platform, independent from the US and China technology blocs,” Yang added. “Our goal is to serve global users rather than building within a single ecosystem. This also positions Agnes AI as a potential third alternative to platforms like OpenAI and Minimax.”
Based in Singapore, Agnes AI is building what it describes as an agent intelligence infrastructure – a systems-level approach to AI that enables intelligent agents to reason, collaborate and solve complex tasks in real-world environments.
Unlike many AI startups focused primarily on consumer applications, Agnes positions itself as a model company developing proprietary AI systems while simultaneously powering a growing ecosystem of AI applications.
AI for the Internet Long Tail
According to Yang, Agnes is designed for what the company calls “long tail users” – the vast majority of internet users who remain underserved by current AI platforms.
“The users that Agnes wants to serve are what we call long-tail users,” Yang explained. “This long tail is huge: it represents approximately 99.5% of internet users worldwide. Many do not own a PC or iOS device. Most are on Android and their experience with AI is often very superficial. Many have never used paid AI features before.”
At the same time, Agnes operates as a model company powering multiple AI applications, enabling advanced AI capabilities to reach users through everyday practical tools rather than standalone search systems.
This business momentum has helped Agnes approach nearly $20 million in annual recurring revenue, positioning the company among the fastest-growing AI platforms emerging in Southeast Asia.
Positioning: A model AI company first with multiple AI applications
Agnes is building its platform around three core principles: AI inclusion, AI parity, and AI neutrality.
AI inclusion aims to expand access to advanced AI capabilities for billions of users who have historically been excluded from premium AI tools.
AI parity reflects the company’s ambition to give individuals access to capabilities that were once only available to large organizations.
According to Yang, AI neutrality reflects the company’s geographic and strategic positioning.
Building an agent intelligence infrastructure
Rather than focusing solely on application-level AI products, Agnes develops system-level architectures designed for agentic intelligence.
At the heart of the platform is the company’s Reinforcement Learning from Agentic Feedback (RLAF) framework, powered by proprietary research systems including:
Together, these technologies enable:
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Self-correcting mechanisms that improve output reliability
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Long-term reasoning for complex, multi-step decision-making processes
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Multi-agent collaboration frameworks that allow AI systems to evaluate and refine each other’s responses
By combining these components into a unified infrastructure layer, Agnes aims to move beyond traditional generative AI toward fully agent-based systems capable of autonomous reasoning and coordinated decision-making.
Technical architecture: intelligent routing and system-level orchestration
Agnes developed a clustered model architecture spanning text, vision and multimodal reasoning, enabling the platform to dynamically allocate tasks between specialized models.
With intelligent routing and system-level orchestration, the system automatically determines which model should handle a given request. This architecture allows Agnes to maintain near state-of-the-art performance while significantly reducing training and inference costs.
Key features include:
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Model clusters for multimodal reasoning (text, vision and hybrid tasks)
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Dynamic compute allocation using intelligent routing
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Cost-effective inference pipelines that reduce operational overhead
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System-level orchestration enabling coordinated workflows for agents
This efficiency allows Agnes to provide advanced AI capabilities in markets where expensive AI services have historically been inaccessible.
Recently, Agnes AI introduced the Agnes-Claw model, which has already entered the PinchBench benchmark rankings, demonstrating the platform’s ability to achieve competitive performance alongside the world’s leading AI systems while maintaining significantly lower operational costs.
Market Traction and Growing Adoption
Since its launch, Agnes AI has seen rapid growth in Southeast Asia and other emerging markets. The platform now serves millions of users worldwide, with strong adoption in regions where access to high-end AI tools has traditionally been limited.
The company has launched several AI agent products developed entirely in-house, with the broader ecosystem now serving nearly 10 million users worldwide.
This growth has translated into strong commercial traction, with Agnes approaching $20 million in annual recurring revenue, positioning the company among the fastest growing AI platforms emerging in Southeast Asia.
Platform Extension: API Services for Agentic AI
Looking ahead, Agnes plans to launch developer-focused API services in Q2, covering AI-driven search, office collaboration tools, and multimodal generation. These APIs will enable developers and businesses to build on Agnes’ agentic AI infrastructure, supporting its vision of becoming a model-as-infrastructure platform for integrating agentic intelligence into products and workflows.
Advancing AI inclusion and global access
A central pillar of Agnes’ mission is to expand access to advanced AI technologies beyond traditional technology hubs.
While many global AI systems focus on a limited set of languages and markets, Agnes prioritizes inclusive AI development, ensuring its systems are relevant to diverse global users.
Through localized datasets, optimized infrastructure and cost-effective architectures, the platform enables users in emerging markets to access advanced AI capabilities without the high costs typically associated with high-end AI tools.
This approach reflects Agnes’ broader mission to build AI for the 99.5% of internet users who have never used paid AI services.
Funding and global expansion
Agnes AI is finalizing its latest funding round, after raising tens of millions of dollars in its recent funding round, driven by strong investor interest in its rapid user growth and technological innovation.
Key target markets include Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, Japan, the UK and the US, with localized strategies designed to bring advanced AI capabilities to a global user base.
About Agnès AI
Agnes AI is a Singapore-based artificial intelligence platform focused on building agentic intelligence as infrastructure. The company develops proprietary AI models and system-level architectures that enable intelligent agents that can reason, collaborate, and solve problems autonomously.
Founded by Raffles Institution alumnus Bruce Yang, currently pursuing a PhD in artificial intelligence at the National University of Singapore, Agnes AI has grown rapidly since its launch, serving millions of users worldwide and now approaching $20 million in annual recurring revenue.
Through her model-driven approach and commitment to AI inclusion, Agnes aims to make advanced AI capabilities accessible to industries, businesses and communities around the world.
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