Under the agreement, the joint venture’s territory covers all countries, jurisdictions and territories across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
Trident Digital Tech Holdings Ltd, a Singapore-headquartered digital infrastructure holding company, has signed a definitive joint venture agreement with US-based Digital Innovations Group (DIG) to establish IRMA Asia Pte. Ltd., a 50/50 venture focused on deploying and commercialising the IRMA AI Engine across Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The agreement formalises a partnership that previously operated under a binding letter of intent and strategic equity investment. The venture will operate commercially as IRMA Engine Asia, with Trident and DIG each holding 50% ownership and equal voting, dividend, distribution and liquidation rights.
Under the agreement, the joint venture’s territory covers all countries, jurisdictions and territories across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The companies said the territory is not restricted by geographic classification and does not require separate activation or additional grants for individual countries. The Middle East marks Trident’s first commercial entry into the region and expands its footprint beyond the Asia-Pacific and African markets where it has previously disclosed operations.
IRMA Engine Asia plans to initially enter Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Middle East and Africa, representing an estimated 9.4 million small and medium-sized businesses based on third-party market data and the company’s internal analysis. The venture will target SMEs through platform onboarding, cross-border market-entry services and recurring subscriptions, while also exploring opportunities to leverage national digitalisation support programmes where available to reduce adoption costs.
The IRMA platform will combine DIG’s proprietary data layer with AI agents, campaign planning, predictive simulation, research and analysis tools, workflow automation and multi-channel execution capabilities. Its architecture will include data, AI-agent, execution, transparency, monetisation and white-label layers, while integrations will allow the platform to connect with CRM and ATS systems, AI and large language model providers, advertising networks, messaging platforms, analytics systems, e-commerce services and payment providers.
Trident and DIG will each hold 50% of IRMA Asia on a fully diluted basis. The agreement prevents changes to the ownership structure without the written consent of both parties and provides equal voting and economic rights. Trident will fund its interest through equity contributions over the 24 months following completion, with funds held in segregated escrow and released against verified delivery milestones.
DIG will retain ownership of its pre-existing IRMA technology and intellectual property, while the joint venture will own technology, integrations, localisations, workflows, customer-facing platforms and documentation specifically developed for IRMA Engine Asia and funded through Trident’s investment.
The parties intend to approve a 12-month business plan, funding target, market-entry sequence, pricing, staffing plan and performance dashboard within 30 days of the effective date. Commercial go-live is expected within 90 days following completion, with Singapore serving as the venture’s regional headquarters and an India-based development and support operation providing dedicated technology and operational support.
Trident said the venture builds on its existing digital infrastructure operations in Africa. Its 50/50 joint venture, Trident Aliska Digital Tech Ghana Ltd., operates Ghana’s national digital tax platform for the Ghana Revenue Authority, which launched on June 24, 2026. The company has previously disclosed an onboarding target of approximately 530,000 businesses during the platform’s first year and a potential combined revenue opportunity of up to US$800 million over five years, although it stressed that this is a previously disclosed estimate rather than realised revenue or contracted backlog.
“The documents are signed and the structure is fixed by contract, not by interpretation. Trident holds half of a venture whose territory covers the entirety of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Under the agreement, neither party’s fifty percent may be changed without the written agreement of both. That is the foundation we wanted before putting capital to work. We did not arrive here from a standing start. We have built and operated digital infrastructure for a national government at a scale most companies our size never attempt. The Middle East is the next market, not the first. IRMA Engine Asia is how we intend to carry enterprise AI into markets where we already have the relationships and the distribution.”
– Soon Huat Lim, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Trident Digital Tech Holdings
“The execution of the definitive agreement gives IRMA Engine Asia a clear mandate to move forward. Our focus now is execution: building the operating organization, deploying the technology, establishing enterprise and distribution relationships, and putting the IRMA Engine to work for customers across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Singapore provides a strong strategic headquarters for the region, while India will be an important center for technology, operations and talent. We believe IRMA Engine Asia has the foundation to become a bridge between the pace of AI innovation and the real-world commercial execution businesses are demanding.”
– Anshuman Dash, President-designate, IRMA Engine Asia
“The definitive documents are executed and the focus now is building the business. Trident brings regional infrastructure, relationships and market access; DIG brings the IRMA technology, the development organization and the AI execution platform. The 50/50 structure aligns both organizations around one objective: building IRMA Engine Asia into a significant AI commercialization platform.”
– Michael Woloshin, Founder, Digital Innovations Group and creator, IRMA Engine
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