Founder communities in Southeast Asia: 14 compared by city (2026)

The right founder community in Southeast Asia is the one that meets in your city, on a day you can make, with people building something close to what you build. The region doesn't have one network that covers every city, so most founders here combine a local meetup with an online group. Below is a table of 14 communities across Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, each checked on its own page on 28 October 2026, plus what each costs and how to get in.

A note before you read on: this guide is published by Remote Builders, and two rows are ours (Remote Builders and Bali Startup & Tech). We've described them with the same kind of facts as everyone else, and we've left out any number we couldn't find on a community's own page today.

How to choose a founder community in Southeast Asia

Start with the city you're in this month

Founder life in this region moves around. People spend a season in Bali, then Bangkok or Da Nang, then Singapore for meetings. A community that meets weekly in your city is worth more than a better-known one two flights away. If you're moving, pick groups that belong to a network with chapters in the next place: the Hacka* network, Startup Grind and Sip & Scale all run in more than one city here. Our Singapore guide compares 13 founder communities in the city.

Pick the format that fits how you work

There are three common formats in the table:

• Co-working days with demos. The Hacka* groups (Hackagu in Bali, Hackamai in Chiang Mai, Hackanang in Da Nang) spend a whole Thursday working side by side and finish with demos. They suit people who write code and want accountability.
• Evening mixers and talks. Startup Grind, Singapore Entrepreneurs Network, Malaysia Entrepreneurs Network, Raid The Fridge and Sip & Scale run evening events. They suit founders who want to meet investors, hires or customers.
• Something different. Founders Running Club in Ho Chi Minh City meets for a 6am run and coffee every Saturday. SIHUB is a city-run hub with training and event space.

Expect to pay the venue, not the organiser

Most of these groups don't charge a membership fee. The cost is usually food and drink: Singapore Entrepreneurs Network says buying a drink or meal is compulsory, Malaysia Entrepreneurs Network asks you to order, and Sip & Scale Jakarta sold tickets at IDR 200K including a drink and food. Hackagu's co-working day pass is 165k IDR with a coffee.

Check that it's still running

Groups in the region start and stop quickly. Before you plan around one, look for an event dated in the last few months. That's the rule we used for this table: every row had an event dated May 2026 or later, or an upcoming one, on a page we could read.

Founder communities in Southeast Asia compared

These are 14 communities we checked on 28 October 2026. Prices are as each page shows them. Member counts are the community's own page or Meetup group on that day.

Notes by country

• Indonesia. Bali Startup & Tech, ours, runs weekly How I AI builder sessions and monthly founder dinners in Canggu, and its Meetup group showed 2,735 members on 28 October 2026. Hackagu started in Canggu in 2019 and is the original Hacka* group. In Jakarta, Sip & Scale held an invite-only evening for young founders on 1 August 2026.
• Singapore. Startup Grind Singapore says it started in 2012 and its chapter page shows 9,573 members. Singapore Entrepreneurs Network runs drop-in nights on the first Thursday, second Wednesday and third Thursday of each month, with no hard selling.
• Malaysia. Malaysia Entrepreneurs Network meets monthly in Kuala Lumpur, with its next meetup listed for 5 November 2026, and bans MLM promoters. Our Kuala Lumpur guide compares 12 founder communities in the city.
• Thailand. Startup Grind Bangkok ran XenConnect, one-to-one founder and investor matching, on 16 September 2026. Hackamai co-works in Chiang Mai every Thursday, usually around Old Town or Nimman.
• Vietnam. SIHUB is a unit of Ho Chi Minh City's Department of Science and Technology, and its site is in Vietnamese. Founders Running Club meets at 6am on Saturdays, and Hackanang co-works in Da Nang on Thursdays.
• The Philippines. Raid The Fridge is a monthly mixer run by Kickstart Ventures since August 2012, and its May 2026 edition in Makati sold out. Sip & Scale Cebu ran with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry on 1 August 2026.

Communities we checked and left out

We left out groups whose own pages showed nothing dated in the last six months, including several Startup Grind chapters in the region, QBO Innovation Hub in Manila and a few Bali coworking communities. We also found nothing dated for Hanoi. If you run one of these and it's active, tell us in the members' chat and we'll recheck it.

Staying long enough to join one

A community pays off over months, not one evening, so the visa you're on matters. Two passes come up often among founders here:

• Malaysia's DE Rantau Nomad Pass asks tech workers for a minimum annual income of US$24,000 and charges a non-refundable RM1,080 processing fee per applicant, according to MDEC's FAQ.
• Thailand's Destination Thailand Visa has a workcation category for digital nomads, remote workers and freelancers, according to the Royal Thai Embassy in Kuala Lumpur.

Rules change, so check the official page before you apply. Our guide to digital nomad visas for founders compares more countries.

How to get value in your first month

1. Go three times before you judge it. The first event is introductions. By the third, people remember what you're building.
2. Bring a specific ask. "I'm looking for a designer who has worked on fintech" gets you an introduction. "I'm here to network" doesn't.
3. Show something. At Hacka* groups the demo is the point. At mixers, a one-line description of what you've shipped this month does the same job.
4. Follow up within a day. A short message with the thing you promised to send is how a meetup turns into a working relationship.
5. Add an online group for the weeks you're travelling. Our comparison of communities for remote founders covers the online options.

Common mistakes

• Joining for the brand name. A small weekly group that meets near you usually beats a well-known chapter that meets once a quarter.
• Selling on the first night. Both entrepreneur networks in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur ban hard selling or MLM promoters for a reason.
• Ignoring the local language. SIHUB's site is in Vietnamese. A translation tool is enough to find events, and turning up gets you further than reading about it.
• Waiting for a perfect fit. If nothing fits your city, start one. Our guide to starting a founder meetup covers the first three events.