For the last two decades, the founders’ and investors’ playbook in Asia was simple: Take a successful consumer internet model from the US or China and adapt it for the local market.
But as we move into 2026, we are hitting two massive ceilings that “Silicon Valley logic” cannot solve alone.
1. The Carbon Ceiling: We cannot burn more fossil fuels without destabilizing the very region we are building in.
2. The Silicon Ceiling: For the first time in history, the demand for compute (AI) is outstripping the efficiency gains of Moore’s Law.
At Antares, we view the future of energy and computing as one story, inextricably linked, and creating a powerful symbiotic cycle. We are in a defining era where we need both sustainable energy innovations and advanced computing breakthroughs for economic growth, prosperity, and the future of our planet.
At the Tech in Asia Conference 2025 in Jakarta, our Managing Partner Michael Gryseels presented our thesis for this new reality. We call it “Beyond Carbon & Silicon.”
Watch the full keynote presentation below:
Founder & Managing Partner of Antares Ventures, Michael Gryseels, delivers the opening keynote on Day 2 of Tech in Asia Jakarta (23 October 2025)
Why is this shift happening now? Because Asia’s rapid urbanization is colliding with two massive energy spikes that current infrastructure cannot support.
We identify these as the “Twin Energy Superloads”:
1. The Cooling Load: As the region heats up, air conditioning is becoming a survival necessity, not a luxury. By 2040, cooling alone is projected to consume 30% of a tropical city’s peak energy.
2. The Compute Load: The AI boom is driving a massive expansion in data centers. In Singapore alone, data centers already consume ~7% of total power, a figure that is set to rise as the region becomes a hub for AI training and inference.
These two forces mean that energy efficiency is no longer just a “green” goal, it is a mathematical requirement for economic growth.
The most common question we received after the keynote, from founders and corporate leaders in Jakarta, and subsequently Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok, was: “How do I build a venture-scale company in this space?”
Deep tech in Asia requires a different approach than in the West. In the keynote, we outline two specific pathways:
Pathway 1: Scale What Works in Asia
This pathway is for founders taking globally proven climate technologies, like Solar PV, EV Batteries, or Energy Storage, and solving the business model bottleneck for the region.
The key is to rethink the financing, operations, and distribution. Instead of selling the product only, focus on selling the outcome as well. This shift to an “Outcomes-as-a-Service” model changes how we provide value, focusing on the results rather than the things themselves.
Take the example of our portfolio companies: Hydroleap (SG), VFlowTech (SG), and ePlane (India). The company emerged as a university spin-off in Asia, translating proprietary academic research into market-specific applications with strong regional demand.
Pathway 2: Invent for Asia, Scale Globally
This pathway is for founders solving physics and chemistry problems that are unique to our geography, problems that founders in Silicon Valley might not be thinking about.
The focus should be on leveraging Asia’s “unfair advantages”: our heat, humidity, and unique geology, which give us a distinctive edge. To capitalize on this, the winning model is built around proprietary IP and groundbreaking scientific advancements, harnessing these elements to create something truly unique.
Take the example of our portfolio companies: IONATE (UK), FeX Energy (Canada), and enaDyne (German). They began in labs on the other side of the world, yet they were able to see a clear pathway into this region because their solutions were uniquely aligned with the industrial realities of Asia.
We are actively deploying capital into companies that are building the infrastructure for this post-carbon, post-silicon era. Specifically, we are looking for teams tackling the domains outlined in our thesis. If you are a founder or investor building in one of these two pathways, we want to hear from you.
Check Our Investment Thesis, View Our Portfolio, or Submit Your Pitch
Michael’s full presentation slides and key points are available here.
