The GEAR Future City Festival (FCF) 3.0 was held in partnership with the Building and Construction Authority, under the initiative of Build SG at the award-winning building, The GEAR. With approximately 300 delegates across industry, government, startups and academia, the event underscored Singapore’s role as a hub for shaping the future of the global built environment.
The GEAR by Kajima operates as the technology services and open innovation platform of the Kajima group. As part of Kajima, one of Japan’s largest and long-standing construction, engineering, and real estate companies with a nearly two-century legacy of innovation, The GEAR continues to advance Kajima’s vision of “Building for the Next 100 Years”.
“The future of our cities won’t be built by winners and losers, but by collaborators. At The GEAR by Kajima, we see collaboration as the new competition, where corporates, startups, academia, and government work side by side to turn ideas into impact for the built environment.” said Luke Wu, Managing Director, The GEAR by Kajima.
Industry Voices on Scaling Innovation
The built environment is all around us, but how often do we notice its impact, or its innovation? From aging infrastructure and energy challenges to rapid urbanisation and climate risks, cities worldwide face pressing issues that demand innovative solutions. These issues were discussed during the headline panel discussion titled “Micro to Macro: Scaling Small Innovation to Mega Projects”, which brought together industry’s leading voices.
Moderated by Prof. Aidan M. W., Assistant Professor of Urban Studies at Singapore Management University, the session featured Jiawen Cheong, Acting Director of the Future of Building & Infrastructure Division at JTC Corporation; Kieve Lim, Chief Digital Officer at PrimusTech (a Kajima Group company); and Jonathan Hannam, Co-Founder & Managing Director at Taronga Group.
The panel explored how Singapore’s innovation ecosystem is enabling small-scale technologies to scale, with insights on the need for data readiness from building owners, easy-to adopt solutions to address integration challenges, and, above all, ecosystem collaboration. The panelists highlighted the role of technology clusters, such as those developed by JTC, improving infrastructure access through the role of master systems integrators, and cross-sector partnerships in accelerating adoption.
Innovation in the Built Environment in the Spotlight
The GEAR Startup CoLab welcomed a new cohort of dynamic startups this year, marking another exciting chapter in its mission to foster open innovation through collaboration. Beth Henderson, Lead of Startup Programmes at The GEAR by Kajima, shared key insights from this year’s Startup CoLab applications, highlighting emerging trends and areas of innovation in the built environment. From over 100 applications spanning 19 countries, 13 standout companies were selected for the first intake and are now actively working with The GEAR team to explore and shape collaborative projects across Kajima’s businesses.
“We’ve seen strong representation from startups addressing sustainability, productivity, and human-centric challenges in the built environment,” said Beth, “Many are eager to use Singapore as a testbed and launchpad for regional scaling, and we’re excited to see the first round of project outcomes and explore opportunities for commercialisation, both locally and across our overseas subsidiaries.”
In partnership with the Building and Construction Authority (BCA), the event also saw the launch of the 6th cycle of the Built Environment Accelerate-to-Market Programme (BEAMP), opened by Jonathan Cheng, Chief Technology Officer at BCA:
“By developing and bringing to market new solutions to enhance our local BE ecosystem, research and innovation are vital to future-proof the sector. BCA has been actively cultivating the growth and expansion of the local ConTech ecosystem through partnerships with both public and private sector partners. BCA is heartened to see The GEAR’s efforts in organising the Future City Festival (FCF) annually to increase the vibrancy of the ConTech community by offering a platform to facilitate knowledge and innovation exchange.”
To accelerate innovation in the Built Environment (BE) sector, BCA, together with JTC Corporation and Enterprise Singapore, is pleased to launch the sixth cycle of the Built Environment Accelerate-to-Market Programme (BEAMP) at Future City Festival 3.0. Riding on the success of prior cycles of BEAMP, this latest cycle of BEAMP features challenge statements from 8 returning Challenge Statement Owners and 7 new Challenge Statement Owners. Cycle 6 will support the development of solutions which can address various pain points flagged by the Challenge Statement Owners, as well as continue to provide additional support for small-scale commercial trials and sustainability solutions per Cycle 5.
18 build-tech startups, from Singapore and around the world, demonstrated their innovative solutions at The GEAR. From robotics and AI to sustainable and green innovations, startups from Startup CoLab, BEAMP, and Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) not only showcased technologies and fresh ideas but also sparked conversations that pushed the boundaries of collaboration toward shaping future cities.
To further explore innovation in action, Kajima Technical Research Institute Singapore (KaTRIS) shared insights on their latest research translating innovation into practical solutions for smart buildings. With a focus on advancing human-centric and technology-driven building solutions, KaTRIS highlighted how it is combining design and advanced technology to create smarter, more responsive buildings that prioritize occupant well-being and collaboration.
Collaboration is the New Competition
The future of the built environment will be shaped by collaboration, where shared effort drives progress that benefits everyone, this is exactly what The GEAR by Kajima has been putting into action.
Besides The GEAR Startup CoLab programme which was in collaboration with ecosystem partners, our partnerships with Institutes of Higher Education, including Singapore Management University (SMU), Singapore Polytechnic (SP), Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP), and Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), also achieved several milestones this year. Initiatives such as co-hosting the Built Environment Innovation Challenge with Singapore Polytechnic and acting as a strategic partner of the SMU Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC), and delivering over 30 learning journeys which engaged 1,500 students from local and global schools, The GEAR continues to open minds to the transformative potential of construction and innovation and redefining what’s possible in the industry.
The GEAR by Kajima announced four finalists for the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC) Built Environment Accelerated Commercialisation Prize: Mimicrete, Genia, InviscidAI, and Clean Carbon. The winner will be selected during the judging event on 1 October, with the winner announced on 2 October. The prize includes an opportunity to run a Proof of Concept (PoC) with Kajima and other in-kind support valued at up to $60,000 SGD, which will be awarded to the startup showing the greatest potential to collaborate with Kajima and advance innovation in Singapore’s built environment sector.
Two pilot projects, in collaboration with student startups Sunventor and CityLens from SUTD, are now in the first phase of their PoC at The GEAR building. Both startups, winners of The GEAR × SUTD Built-Environment Innovation Grant, are receiving dedicated support from The GEAR, including access to facilities, to validate and refine their solutions under real-world conditions.
