Amity chief eyes global AI expansion

While building a global artificial intelligence (AI) business from Thailand is an uphill task, Korawad Chearavanont, executive chairman and founder of Amity, is taking the company onto the global stage through its specialised technology, strategic acquisitions and commercial execution.

His strategic vision has earned Mr Korawad the title of CEO of the Year 2026 as AI startup of the year.

Amity is a Southeast Asian enterprise AI technology company founded in Thailand.

Mr Korawad said that 2027 would be a year of accelerated expansion, with greater emphasis on its proprietary AI business model and further acquisitions in Europe.

"I would like to see Amity become a significant AI company on the global stage, both in terms of vertical model research and in terms of scale," Mr Korawad told the Bangkok Post.

AI companies are becoming some of the largest and most important companies in the world, he added.

"I hope that Amity can be part of that global push and help put Thailand on the map for AI development," he said.

In March 2026, the company announced a Series D funding round of US$100 million, marking the largest GenAI-focused funding round in Southeast Asia to date.

On November 2, Amity also announced a strategic investment from Finnoventure Private Equity Trust I, a trust managed by Krungsri Finnovate, the corporate venture capital arm of Krungsri (Bank of Ayudhya PCL). This funding serves as an extension to Amity’s recent $100 million+ Series D round.

Mr Korawad said investors were interested in the company because they were looking beyond the AI hype cycle and wanted to see proven commercial execution, real enterprise adoption and sustainable unit economics.

He said that core factors driving investor confidence in the company included its proven financial trajectory.

"It took us ten years from our founding in 2012 to reach our first $10 million in revenue, and just over two years after that to surpass $100 million in annualised revenue, expanding more than 10-fold since 2022," he said.

Mr Korawad said Amity did not raise capital on a concept; it proved its model first, reaching scale across more than 20,000 brands globally, and was now closing in on its target of $200 million in annualised revenue by the end of 2026.

He added that the company focuses on Vertical AI and Agentic AI rather than general-purpose models.

He said Amity focuses on building specialised AI models and autonomous agents tailored to specific industry needs, particularly in retail and customer communications, turning proprietary corporate data into deployable systems that execute end-to-end business processes.

"Investors saw that we can systematically acquire established enterprise software companies with sticky customer bases, inject our AI capabilities into their core products and unlock rapid cross-portfolio growth," he said.

Mr Korawad said the company's acquisition strategy targets established, revenue-generating business-to-business software companies where its AI teams can immediately add transformative value.

He said the fresh capital injection from the Series D fundraising would accelerate Amity's expansion across Southeast Asia and Europe while strengthening its existing AI Research and Application Centre (ARAC).

In Europe, following the definitive agreement in June, the company's UK-based subsidiary Tollring officially completed its acquisition of Code Software, including the Clobba brand and all intellectual property rights, in July 2026.

This marked Amity's fifth strategic acquisition and significantly expanded its enterprise footprint across the UK, Europe, the US and Australia and New Zealand.

"More importantly, we are already delivering on the AI integration," he said. "In September, Tollring launched Analytics 365 Version 2, marking the first step in bringing Clobba and Analytics 365 together with advanced, AI-powered conversation intelligence. Our Europe business is already contributing the majority of our profit."

Amity launched its Singapore regional headquarters and ARAC in late June 2026.

The Singapore hub allows enterprise clients across the region to access customer experience, communications, data analytics and Agentic AI solutions through a single, unified provider.

Mr Korawad said Thailand is — and will always be — Amity’s home and its core engineering powerhouse.

While the physical centre in Singapore was recently launched to serve as its international gateway and attract global research talent, with plans to hire AI engineers and specialists over the next three years, ARAC’s foundational DNA and leadership remain deeply rooted in Thailand.

"As demand for localised vertical AI and sovereign Thai-language enterprise solutions grows, we will continue to invest heavily in our R&D infrastructure and AI talent right here in Thailand, alongside our Singapore hub," he said.

Mr Korawad said Amity maintains its target of being ready for an initial public offering around mid-2027.

"Regarding the specific exchange, we are maintaining strategic flexibility and have not made a final determination yet," he said.

The company is actively evaluating the Stock Exchange of Thailand, the Singapore Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong, alongside other global venues, he added.

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