For decades, technological innovation and economic growth have gone hand in hand, largely in the same corners of the world. Countries like the US, Canada, Japan, and a few in Europe, the so-called developed world, consistently dominated both global patent filings and economic output. In 1975, the top five most developed countries accounted for 70% of global patents and also generated 70% of the world’s GDP growth. By 1995, this pattern was largely held, with top-tier economies still dominating both innovation and expansion.
This tight coupling between where technology originated and where value was created defined an era. It set the rules for how ecosystems were built, how capital flowed, and how new industries took shape.
But history doesn’t stand still. Neither does innovation.
Fast forward to 2023, and something interesting happened. Innovation, at least as measured by Intellectual Property (IP) and patents, became even more concentrated, with 85% of global patents coming from just a handful of countries. Yet those countries only accounted for 50% of global GDP growth. The other half? It’s being driven elsewhere, in places not traditionally seen as centers of innovation.
Southeast Asia, South Asia, and the Middle East, what we at Antares Ventures call Asia Growth Markets, are emerging as powerful engines of global economic growth. These regions aren’t just expanding quickly; they’re doing so while facing infrastructure gaps, climate pressure, and legacy industrial challenges.
These markets are younger, faster-growing, and undergoing structural shifts that create fertile ground for deploying meaningful technology. The tools and solutions required to address their needs, from infrastructure and energy to food security and advanced manufacturing, often originate in labs thousands of miles away. But the opportunity to scale them, to turn ideas into impact, is increasingly found here.
This decoupling between where innovation is created and where growth is happening signals a huge opportunity. It means the world needs a new bridge: one that connects breakthrough technologies born in the global North with the rapidly transforming economies of the global South and East.
Antares Ventures was built to be that bridge.
If growth alone told the story, Asia’s trajectory would be remarkable in itself. But growth here is happening under immense pressure: fragile grids power megacities, agriculture remains vulnerable and inefficient, urban centers are congested and polluted, and many of these regions rank among the most climate-vulnerable in the world.
This isn’t just an opportunity for innovation, it’s a necessity. Asia Growth Markets face a different kind of equation: how do you leapfrog into sustainable futures without following the same carbon-intensive paths of the past? The answer won’t come from incremental digital platforms or SaaS. It will come from deep-tech solutions designed for systemic transformation.
In many cases, Asia Growth Markets are leapfrogging legacy systems altogether. Instead of retrofitting outdated infrastructure, they’re embracing technologies like advanced power electronics, synthetic biology, and AI-native industrial platforms from the start. This makes them ideal testbeds for deep-tech deployment: fast, flexible, and high-stakes.
What the region seems to lack in IP generation makes up for in urgency, scale, and the willingness to partner. That’s where the opportunity lies, not in simply exporting ideas, but in adapting and scaling global innovation for a new kind of market.
That’s why Antares Ventures focuses on areas where frontier technologies can address these structural challenges. Whether it’s energy transition and decarbonization, sustainable agriculture and food systems, or resilient urban infrastructure, the region demands tech that’s as ambitious as its problems.
At Antares Ventures, we view our role as a conduit: sourcing breakthrough deep-tech solutions from across the world and helping them scale where they’re needed most. Our portfolio spans innovations in hydrogen logistics, water treatment, autonomous ocean robotics, and more, all of them addressing critical pain points in fast-growing regions.
We’re doing this by building deep, localized knowledge networks and working closely with Asian strategic LPs, governments, and ecosystem partners. Our proprietary Source–Invest–Scale–Exit strategy is designed to accelerate not just adoption but meaningful impact.
The model is already working. Canadian-based Open Ocean Robotics, a pioneer in autonomous maritime monitoring, is now operating in Singapore. Ayrton Energy, a hydrogen logistics company using novel LOHC tech, won Temasek’s Livability Challenge. Hydroleap, based in Singapore, delivered a wastewater treatment project in Malaysia, cutting chemical use by 90%.
Each of these companies was born in one part of the world, but scaled and succeeded in Asia Growth Markets. This is the pattern we believe in, and the pattern we intend to keep repeating.
Antares Ventures is purpose-built for this moment: a deep-tech fund with global reach and regional execution power. We’re not just investing in solutions, we’re investing in the transformation of industries that will define Asia’s next 50 years.
Our team brings unmatched operational expertise in energy transition, industrial decarbonization, agriculture & food innovation, smart cities & transportation, semiconductors, and advanced computing. We provide startups with strategic capital and specialized industry expertise to scale rapidly and sustainably in Asia Growth Markets. Our deep local ecosystem knowledge uniquely positions us as the ideal partner for ambitious founders ready to transform critical industries in Asia.
The stakes are high. The problems are real, and the potential for positive, lasting impact is unlike anywhere else in the world.
That’s why we were excited to take the Impact Stage at Penang Slush’D 2025 to share how and why we do what we do and why we believe deep-tech must go global to be truly impactful.
At the center of the growing region for semiconductor tech, our message to the global innovation community is simple: the hardest problems need the hardest tech, and the best place to deploy it is Asia. Like the event’s theme, Antares is building a bridge between worlds: sourcing the most promising deep-tech innovations globally, and scaling them in the dynamic, rapidly growing markets of Asia.
You can check out Louis Murayama’s full presentation below.
Whether you’re a founder with a breakthrough in deep-tech, an LP seeking regional exposure, or a government-backed innovation agency—let’s connect here.