Murata Electronics Singapore (“Murata”), a subsidiary of the Japan-based global electronics components leader Murata, has announced the launch of KUMIHIMO Tech Camp Singapore 2026 in collaboration with Tribe, a leading open innovation platform in Southeast Asia. This first Singapore edition of Murata’s flagship programe will take place throughout 2026, focusing on MedTech innovation. It will bring together startups from ASEAN and India to jointly develop healthcare solutions designed to address critical and region-specific medical challenges.
Why MedTech, Why Now
ASEAN and India together represent more than two billion people and one of the most dynamic, and unevenly resourced healthcare landscapes in the world. From ageing populations and the rise of chronic disease in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, to maternal and child health gaps in India, and the Philippines, the region’s medical challenges demand technology that is engineered for local context rather than imported from elsewhere.
KUMIHIMO Tech Camp Singapore 2026 focuses on three challenge areas where Murata’s hardware capabilities and startup innovation can combine to deliver measurable impact: preventing and detecting dual disease burden across chronic and infectious conditions, monitoring environment-linked health risks from pollution, heat, and climate change, and expanding access to affordable screening and diagnosis beyond major urban centres.
What Participating Startups Will Receive
Selected teams will join a structured programme combining technical onboarding, mentorship and direct engagement with Murata’s engineering and business development teams. Participants can receive support to gain exclusive access to Murata’s hardware platforms, components, and core technologies, backed by direct guidance from Murata engineers and business representatives and curated mentorship from MedTech experts. Tribe will run structured mentor pairings and Demo Day pitch coaching throughout.
The programme culminates in Demo Day on 26 November 2026 in Singapore, where startups present to a panel of Murata leadership, Tribe mentors and invited industry partners. One winning team will receive a SGD 10,000 cash prize in recognition of their innovation and commercial potential. Beyond Demo Day, high-potential teams may continue into Proof-of-Concept and Non-Recurring Engineering engagements with Murata, alongside longer-term co-development and partnership opportunities for solutions that align with Murata’s strategic focus areas.
Tribe will design and run the programme end-to-end, from open call and startup selection, through mentorship and technical onboarding with Murata’s hardware platforms, to Demo Day and post-programme commercial pathways. The collaboration brings together Murata’s global components and engineering capabilities with Tribe’s deeply rooted network of startups, mentors and industry experts across APAC region.
DM Venkatesan, General Manager, Regional New Business Development, Murata Electronics Singapore Pte. Ltd, said: “The healthcare challenges across ASEAN and India are real and urgent, and off-the-shelf technology was not built to solve them. Startups that can combine hardware innovation with deep local context are best placed to change that. Tribe stood out as the right partner for KUMIHIMO Tech Camp Singapore because of how they approach open innovation, not as a one-off event, but as a living ecosystem that gives us confidence this programme will attract the right innovators and create lasting value, not just in 2026, but in every possible edition that follows.”
Yi Ming Ng, Co-Founder of Tribe Accelerator, said: “What Tribe brings to KUMIHIMO Tech Camp Singapore 2026 is the layer that sits around the technology. Alongside Murata Manufacturing’s hardware platforms and engineering depth, Tribe will put our extensive regional networks to work for selected teams, facilitating 1:1 sessions with strategists, subject matter experts, and investors who have shipped and invested in MedTech across Southeast Asia and India. That contextual guidance, combined with deep-tech collaboration, is what turns strong technical ideas into deployable, commercially viable solutions for the markets that need them most.”
Who Should Apply
The programme is open to deep-tech and MedTech startups headquartered or operating in eligible countries, at Technology Readiness Level 3 and above. Solutions must adopt a disease-centric, hardware-and-software approach, either by leveraging Murata’s existing component technologies or by applying one of three core technology tracks: Downsizing Technology, Sensing Technology, or Information and Communications Technology. Purely lifestyle or wellness-focused solutions, and pharmaceutical or biological approaches, are outside the programme’s scope.
Applications open mid-June 2026 and close on 31 July 2026, with the top 10 teams selected by mid-August. The Development Phase runs from September to November 2026, ahead of Demo Day on 26 November 2026. I
