Newwave partners with OCIC to accelerate digitalisation and launch a new Innovation Lab at Connexion

OCIC and Newwave, a fast-growing Cambodian technology and artificial intelligence company, signed a partnership agreement on Monday 5 October. The signing took place alongside a Tech Talk led by Newwave CEO and co-founder Kim Chan Amrithvatey.

The signing also marked the soft launch of the new Innovation Lab at Connexion, on Koh Pich in Phnom Penh.

OCIC and Newwave Partner to Accelerate Digital Transformation

Through the partnership, Newwave will work directly with OCIC to bring its AI and software expertise across the Group’s businesses. OCIC, the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation, is a Cambodian conglomerate with activities in real estate, hospitality, healthcare, education and retail.

The collaboration will help OCIC streamline processes, respond more effectively to changing customer needs and explore new ways of working.

Newwave was founded in Cambodia in 2024 by Kim Chan Amrithvatey and Nhek Pich Panharith. It provides AI transformation and software development services to medium and large organisations in Cambodia and abroad. The company has 17 employees, and more than 70 percent of its clients are based outside Cambodia.

Canadia Impact Fund (CIFC), the venture capital arm of Canadia Group, invested in Newwave’s seed round in September 2026. The investment was announced at the 3rd Digital Trade Forum in Phnom Penh. Launched in 2025, CIFC is led by Thierry Tea, who is also Vice President of OCIC. The relationship has since expanded into an operational partnership with OCIC.

“This partnership with Newwave will enable our group to explore how AI can improve our operational efficiency and help us serve our customers better,” said Thierry Tea, Vice President of OCIC. “As our businesses grow and our customers’ expectations keep changing, we need partners who can help us respond faster and adapt to the requirements of a younger population. Newwave gives us a direct, practical way to bring AI and technology tools to our teams, so they can focus on our customers’ needs.”

For OCIC, the agreement marks a concrete step in its digital transformation efforts. For Newwave, it is an opportunity to apply its AI tools within one of Cambodia’s largest business groups, and to work on concrete use cases and large-scale projects.

A New Innovation Lab at Connexion

OCIC is also launching a new Innovation Lab, supported by Newwave, to enable research and development as well as ecosystem connections.

Connexion is a tech and entrepreneurship hub on Koh Pich, set up by OCIC in a former shopping centre. It pre-opened in March 2024 and now hosts more than fifty organisations, including the Federation of Cambodian Startups and the Smart Startup Space, an incubator launched by Smart Axiata.

The Innovation Lab is meant to be a physical engine for innovation, experimentation and corporate–startup collaboration. Supported by Newwave, it will offer AI acceleration for SMEs and corporates, a landing space for international startups entering Cambodia, corporate innovation programmes, technology demonstrations, AI and emerging-tech experimentation, and investor–startup meetings.

The first areas to be explored will be AI, fintech, cybersecurity, smart cities, mobility, real estate technology and construction technology.

Dedicated to startups, founders, students and entrepreneurs, the lab aims to support innovative ideas that create lasting impact for Cambodia. It opens as the national startup scene grows: Cambodia counted 256 startups in May 2026, up from 98 in 2022, and the government launched a National Strategy on Startup Development 2026–2030 in August.

Where Cambodia’s Tech Future Will Be Built

Today, the Innovation Lab starts as a place where people dream and connect. Tomorrow, it will be a place where part of Cambodia’s tech future is built, tested and scaled.