Temasek-backed Temus invests in Philippine AI firm Thinking Machines
What's the deal? Singapore's TemusDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, backed by state investor Temasek, has made a strategic late-stage investment in Manila-founded Thinking Machines Data Science. The company will operate as "Thinking Machines Data Science, a Temus entity," retaining its brand, leadership and operations.
Who's involved? Founder and chief executive officer Stephanie Sy will continue to lead Thinking Machines while joining Temus' leadership team as managing director for applied AI.
What does it do? Founded in 2015, Thinking Machines builds AI and cloud data platforms. It has served more than 110 organisations across financial services, retail, conglomerates and the public sector, and trained over 10,000 professionals in AI.
It was also OpenAIDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →'s first official Services Partner in the Asia-Pacific before earning Advanced Partner status.
What's the money for? The investment will help Thinking Machines expand its regional footprint. The partnership pairs its enterprise AI, analytics and cloud data expertise with Temus' digital transformation work, helping businesses deploy production-ready AI while tackling fragmented data, legacy systems and workforce readiness.
Why now? Southeast Asian enterprises are moving beyond pilot projects toward large-scale AI deployment, creating openings for firms with proven implementation experience.
In their words: "We built Thinking Machines on the belief that the Philippines can build and scale world-class AI capability," Sy said. "Joining the Temus group allows us to pursue that ambition at a much greater scale while staying true to our team, our clients, and our mission."
The signal: The deal suggests Philippine AI firms are gaining recognition as credible regional technology partners, not just providers of outsourced talent — and positions locally built solutions to compete for a bigger share of Southeast Asia's growing digital transformation market.
Read more: Context
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