Recognition underscores Longbridge's pioneering vision as the world's first AI-native broker, setting a new benchmark for investing in the AI era.
SINGAPORE, Aug. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Longbridge Securities (Singapore) ("Longbridge Singapore"), an AI-powered online brokerage, has been named the winner of the InvestTech Initiative Award – Singapore at the Asian Banking & Finance Fintech Awards 2026.
The award recognises Longbridge Singapore's sustained investment in AI innovation and its pioneering vision as the world's first AI-native broker*, bringing together AI and investing in a fundamentally new way.
Organised by Asian Banking & Finance, the ABF Fintech Awards celebrate organisations that are advancing financial technology and reshaping the delivery of financial services across Asia. Longbridge Singapore was recognised for the AI innovations introduced over the past year, reinforcing its commitment to making investing more intuitive, contextual and accessible.
Pioneering a New Model for Investing
AI is changing more than how investors search for information. It is reshaping how they discover opportunities, interpret markets, make decisions and execute trades.
This requires more than adding AI to an existing brokerage. It calls for a fundamentally different model—one where AI is embedded across the entire investing journey, from discovery and research to decision-making and placing orders with investors' confirmation.
That vision has culminated in the world's first AI-native broker: an integrated platform where each AI-native product plays a distinct role while working together as one connected investing experience.
At its core is Longbridge AI, the intelligence layer that continuously interprets market developments, understands each investor's portfolio and surfaces timely, personalised insights. Since its introduction in 2024, Longbridge AI has generated 57.3 million portfolio updates, responded to more than 557,000 investment-related queries and analysed over 28,000 earnings reports in 2025 alone, demonstrating Longbridge's vision of AI as an integral part of the investing journey rather than a standalone assistant.
That intelligence is brought to life through the Longbridge App, where investors can engage naturally through voice, text and images instead of navigating traditional brokerage workflows.
Beyond the app, Longbridge Skill extends these capabilities into leading AI platforms, allowing investors to access Longbridge's market intelligence, investment analysis and brokerage capabilities within the AI experiences they already use. Building on this foundation, the Longbridge Agent Platform enables investors to create, customise and deploy their own AI investing agents using natural language, supported by a governance framework with compliance guardrails, transparent disclosures and community ratings.
Together, these products represent a new model for investing — one where AI is no longer a standalone feature, but the intelligence layer connecting every stage of the investing journey while keeping investors firmly in control of every investment decision.
Bringing Investing Into Everyday AI Experiences
"This recognition reflects where we believe investing is headed. As AI becomes a natural part of how people learn, work and make decisions, investing should become just as seamless. Our vision has never been to build another AI assistant, but to embed trusted investing intelligence into the AI experiences people already use, making investing more intuitive, more contextual and more accessible," Gavin Chia, CEO of Longbridge Securities Singapore and Southeast Asia, said.
"For investors in Singapore, that means institutional-grade investing capabilities delivered through experiences that feel natural, trusted and always keep them in control of every investment decision," Chia added.
The recognition comes amid continued business momentum for Longbridge.
In 2025, the platform introduced more than 110 new features across 16 product releases, including multi-leg options strategies and recurring investments for US fractional shares.
User assets grew 220% year on year in 2025, following 450% growth in 2024, while the global user base expanded 120%. Total notional trading volume reached US$1.5 trillion across 55.7 million orders processed, and Longbridge ranked among Hong Kong's fastest-growing fintech brokerages for two consecutive years.
About Longbridge Securities Singapore
Longbridge Securities is an AI-Powered online brokerage headquartered in Singapore. By building global trading infrastructure and a trading network, it delivers best-in-class trading experiences to investors worldwide. Founded in March 2019, Longbridge holds 22 financial regulatory licenses or qualifications across the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore, and other markets, and has secured more than US$150 million in strategic investment from leading financial institutions and investment firms. Long Bridge Securities Pte. Ltd. is a licensed entity regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) (Capital Markets Services Licence No.: CMS101211), holding a Capital Markets Services Licence and operating under an exempt financial adviser status.
Disclaimer
Long Bridge Securities Pte. Ltd. ("Long Bridge Securities") (UEN No.: 202111825D) is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore and holds a Capital Markets Services Licence for dealing in capital markets products that are securities, collective investment schemes, and exchange-traded derivatives contracts, and is an Exempt Financial Adviser. All investments carry risk. Please refer to the Risk Disclosure Statement on our website for details. This advertisement has not been reviewed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
This commitment to innovation extends beyond AI — Longbridge made history in 2025 by launching the world's first U.S. stock options pre-market trading, a milestone that underscores its position at the frontier of brokerage technology.
*"AI-Native" is defined as: AI that reshapes the product itself, rather than merely optimizing product efficiency. Based on our research, no other listed retail broker licensed to operate in Hong Kong, Singapore or the United States currently meets this standard.
Media enquiries:
Kang Jia Rui / Natalie Lau
Email: media@longbridge.global
Tel: +65 9451 4873
Web: https://longbridge.com/sg
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Longbridge Singapore wins "InvestTech Initiative Award - Singapore" at the Asian Banking & Finance Fintech Awards 2026
HONG KONG, Aug. 7, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) has achieved a landmark milestone at the prestigious 2026 R&D 100 Awards, widely regarded as the "Oscars of Innovation". ASTRI secured six finalist technologies, making it the highest-represented organisation in Asia and the leading non-US organisation among the 2026 R&D finalists. Of these six finalist technologies, three were selected as R&D 100 Award winners, earning places among the world's 100 most technologically significant innovations of the year.
Ir Dr Ted Suen, Chief Executive Officer of ASTRI, said: "We are deeply honoured to be recognised by the R&D 100 Awards. Having six technologies shortlisted as finalists and seeing three of them selected as winners is a strong testament to ASTRI's research excellence and innovation capabilities. These achievements reflect the dedication of our researchers and partners in developing technologies that address real-world industry and societal challenges while creating economic and social values."
"ASTRI will continue to strengthen collaboration among government, industry, academia and the research ecosystem, accelerate the commercialisation of research outcomes, and contribute to Hong Kong's development as an international innovation and technology hub. We also support the national 15th Five-Year Plan by advancing strategic technologies in areas such as AI, microelectronics, new energy and green technologies, helping to foster new quality productive forces and contribute to the country's high-quality development," he added.
Six Technologies Recognised by the 2026 R&D 100 Awards
ASTRI's six recognised technologies span advanced surveillance, sustainability, healthcare, advanced materials and next-generation manufacturing.
R&D100 Award Winners
| Category | Technology |
| Mechanical/Materials | DyeMate-SC Waterless dyeing is becoming increasingly important amid water scarcity and tightening regulations on microplastics. While supercritical CO₂ dyeing works for synthetic fibres, natural fibres remain incompatible with the process. DyeMate-SC overcomes this barrier, enabling supercritical CO₂ dyeing of natural fibres with performance comparable to conventional water dyeing while reducing resource consumption and environmental impact. |
| Mechanical/Materials | EcoFlux: EcoCarbon-infused Natural Graphite Anode Co-applicant: Graphex Innovation and Technology Limited EcoFlux Anode redefines spherical natural graphite through hard carbon infilling and a fast-ion coating developed using an eco-friendly aqueous process. This innovation delivers less than 5% anode swelling, charging capability in under 20 minutes, enhanced reversible capacity and nearly double the cycle life, offering a cost-effective, high-performance solution for long-life and high-energy battery applications. |
| Process/Prototyping: | CarbonTrust Co-applicant: Yau Lee Group CarbonTrust addresses key challenges through purpose-built technical solutions that combine blockchain immutability, AI Anomaly Detection and Cross-registry Intelligence in a unified platform. The platform integrates three mutually reinforcing innovations into a single subscription-accessible service, making trusted, automated carbon verification commercially viable for the first time at urban scale. |
Category
Technology
Mechanical/Materials
DyeMate-SC
Waterless dyeing is becoming increasingly important amid water scarcity and tightening regulations on microplastics. While supercritical CO₂ dyeing works for synthetic fibres, natural fibres remain incompatible with the process. DyeMate-SC overcomes this barrier, enabling supercritical CO₂ dyeing of natural fibres with performance comparable to conventional water dyeing while reducing resource consumption and environmental impact.
Mechanical/Materials
EcoFlux: EcoCarbon-infused Natural Graphite Anode
Co-applicant: Graphex Innovation and Technology Limited
EcoFlux Anode redefines spherical natural graphite through hard carbon infilling and a fast-ion coating developed using an eco-friendly aqueous process. This innovation delivers less than 5% anode swelling, charging capability in under 20 minutes, enhanced reversible capacity and nearly double the cycle life, offering a cost-effective, high-performance solution for long-life and high-energy battery applications.
Process/Prototyping:
CarbonTrust
Co-applicant: Yau Lee Group
CarbonTrust addresses key challenges through purpose-built technical solutions that combine blockchain immutability, AI Anomaly Detection and Cross-registry Intelligence in a unified platform. The platform integrates three mutually reinforcing innovations into a single subscription-accessible service, making trusted, automated carbon verification commercially viable for the first time at urban scale.
R&D100 Award Finalists
| Category | Technology |
| Electrical - Safety and Security | Multispectral Imaging for Advanced Surveillance Operations The Omniguard multispectral imaging system delivers superior haze penetration, exceptional contrast and outstanding signal clarity. By harnessing short-wave infrared (SWIR) technology operating at wavelengths of 900-1700nm, the system cuts through atmospheric scattering far more effectively than visible-light cameras, enabling reliable long-range detection even in foggy or smoky conditions. |
| Mechanical/Materials | Biocide-Free Bacteria-Repellent Nanofiber Breathing System Filters Co-applicant: Well Lead Medical Co., Ltd. The bacteria-repellent nanofiber filter provides enhanced protection by controlling bioburden in breathing circuits. Its non-biocidal zwitterionic polymer hydration layer repels over 95% of bacteria without chemical leaching or superbug development. Robust physical filtration achieves over 99.999% bacterial and viral filtration and over 98.5% particle efficiency, consistently outperforming conventional electrostatic filters, whose effectiveness decline over time. |
| Process/Prototyping | 100% Closed-loop Post-consumer Recycled Plastic Sheets for Cargo Industry Co-applicant: Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl) The 100% closed-loop recycled plastic sheets are made from post-consumer polyethylene cargo sheet waste. Through an innovative recycling process, advanced formulation and a three-layer film structure, the recycled materials achieve the high melt strength required for large-sheet film blowing without the use of virgin resin, while meeting cargo operational requirements and promoting waste reduction and circular sustainability. |
Category
Technology
Electrical - Safety and Security
Multispectral Imaging for Advanced Surveillance Operations
The Omniguard multispectral imaging system delivers superior haze penetration, exceptional contrast and outstanding signal clarity. By harnessing short-wave infrared (SWIR) technology operating at wavelengths of 900-1700nm, the system cuts through atmospheric scattering far more effectively than visible-light cameras, enabling reliable long-range detection even in foggy or smoky conditions.
Mechanical/Materials
Biocide-Free Bacteria-Repellent Nanofiber Breathing System Filters
Co-applicant: Well Lead Medical Co., Ltd.
The bacteria-repellent nanofiber filter provides enhanced protection by controlling bioburden in breathing circuits. Its non-biocidal zwitterionic polymer hydration layer repels over 95% of bacteria without chemical leaching or superbug development. Robust physical filtration achieves over 99.999% bacterial and viral filtration and over 98.5% particle efficiency, consistently outperforming conventional electrostatic filters, whose effectiveness decline over time.
Process/Prototyping
100% Closed-loop Post-consumer Recycled Plastic Sheets for Cargo Industry
Co-applicant: Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited (Hactl)
The 100% closed-loop recycled plastic sheets are made from post-consumer polyethylene cargo sheet waste. Through an innovative recycling process, advanced formulation and a three-layer film structure, the recycled materials achieve the high melt strength required for large-sheet film blowing without the use of virgin resin, while meeting cargo operational requirements and promoting waste reduction and circular sustainability.
Organised by internationally renowned publication R&D World, the R&D 100 Awards honour the world's 100 most-technologically significant innovations from around the globe each year. Entries are evaluated by an independent panel of industry experts, making the awards among the most respected and competitive recognitions in global research and development. ASTRI's success highlights both the institute's research excellence and Hong Kong's growing influence in the international innovation landscape.
About ASTRI
Founded in 2000 by the HKSAR Government, Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI) is the city's largest government-funded R&D centre. Committed to transforming high-impact research into practical innovations, ASTRI drives market-driven, interdisciplinary advancements across sectors, including Smart City, FinTech, Digital Health and Life Sciences, New Industrialisation and Intelligent Manufacturing, Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) and Advanced Electronics, New Energy and Energy Storage, and Green and ESG Technologies. Following its merger with the Nano and Advanced Materials Institute, ASTRI has further strengthened its capabilities, with over 1,500 patents and 2,200 successful cases of technology transfer. Recognised with numerous international awards, ASTRI continues to nurture top I&T talent and foster collaborations among the I&T ecosystem, contributing to Hong Kong's high-value economic development. For more information, please visit: https://www.astri.org
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ASTRI Achieves Strongest Representation in Asia at 2026 R&D 100 Awards, with Three Technologies Named Global Winners
