Thank you for coming!
Splice Beta helps connect to opportunities for all of us in media — from business models to audiences to jobs. We want to make sure everyone has a seat at the table.
Our Beta fund continues. Let’s help people who couldn’t otherwise afford planes and hotels to get to Beta 2024.
The AI in Journalism Challenge Demo Day
The challenge concluded on stage at Splice Beta 2023, where the five finalist teams from The Conversation, Agência Pública, Zamaneh Media, Cuestión Pública, and Rappler demonstrated their projects. Huge congratulations to the Rappler team and their TL;DR project for winning the £25,000 award.
The judges were: Gina Chua, executive editor of Semafor; Marina Walker Guevara, executive editor of the Pulitzer Center; and Valer Kot, Senior Media Advisor at the Media Development Investment Fund.
The AI in Journalism Challenge (AIJC), operated by the Open Society Foundations, is a global competition that provides participating newsrooms with the training, mentoring, and funding to develop new ways of applying generative AI to journalism.
The Splice Beta Startup Pitch Stage
Huge congratulations to Catur Ratna Wulandari for winning the Startup Pitch Stage!
Ten pitchers. Five minutes. Five slides. Five thousand dollars.
The ten pitches were incredible. Nang Nyi, Catur Ratna Wulandari, Grace Thu, Kiana Duncan, Voranai Vanijaka, Ekaterina Voronova, Yao Hua Law, Uyanga Altantuya, Panha Theng, and Ankur Paliwal pitched their hearts out. Ratna won the Google-sponsored prize of $5,000.
SPONSORED BY
The Beta 2023 program
The Beta program covered creators, gender, journalism, product, mental health, AI, audience, tools, community, and identity.
Beta 2023 resources
All the Beta 2023 resources you need
Pics, slide decks, articles, the Beta book, links.
We’ll add to it as we go.
The Beta 2023 speakers
This is what this community looks like 😍
The Beta 2023 band
Shh...Diam!
Shh...Diam! is a queer four-piece band from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. They’ve played for audiences in more than 10 countries since 2009, and have opened for international bands like Dune Rats and Anti-Flag. The band is Faris (guitars/vocals), Yon, (guitars/percussion), Cheryl (bass), and Afi (drums).
Beta is our annual celebration of communities, media creators, and media startup entrepreneurs.
This year, we came together to show our love for the most vital people in the media ecosystem — our audiences.
“Splice Beta is one-of-a-kind. An international community of underdogs, naysayers, all trying to find a way to make things work in the media space. I learnt so much and connected with so many people, and had so much fun.”
— Anonymous Beta attendee, 2022
Tuktuk chic is the best chic
Wear your love for media startups, community, and tuktuks with our new collection of Splice Beta tees and caps. Also…mugs!
Thank you to our sponsors for helping us bring the community together in an especially difficult year
We’re so grateful for your donations to help folks who couldn’t otherwise afford planes and hotels to get to Beta.
Thank you so much for your incredible kindness, Jay, Sasa, Yu Yu, Peiying, Brian, Thandar, Yan, Shirley, Darsh, Chris, Sheryl, Mili, Duuya, Roby, Eunice, Lachmi, Ling, and Pichai — you keep this community magical.
What is Splice Beta?
An inclusive and diverse media startup festival in the northern Thai city of Chiang Mai.
Beta is the only event in Asia that brings together the media ecosystem. This is the golden age of media. Let us show you what it looks like.
Tuktuk therapy for all.
“Beta is full of tips to help us solve the challenges we face. Right off the bat, our team has started our own community-strengthening efforts in our country, based on the expertise we gained from Beta!”
— Nanami Nakagawa, Tansa
Beta 2022
Who comes to Beta? The global media ecosystem.
Media startup founders, creators, tech folks, investors, journalists, media donors, NGOs, CSOs, product managers, media program managers, academics, and students.
Diversity, inclusivity, and access matter to us.
65% of Beta 2023 registrants had never attended Beta before, came from 56 countries, were 54% female, and worked at over 150 companies.
These numbers are not a coincidence: they’re 100% intentionally designed like this with pride. So if we mess up on these stats, hold us accountable.
Some of the 150+ companies you met at Beta 2023
606 Digital, AAJA-Asia, Agence France-Presse, Agência Pública, Amu TV, Article 19, Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, Asiaville, Bandung Bergerak, Baraza Media Lab, Boomerang Media, Cambodian Center for Independent Media, Center for Investigative Reporting, Chiang Mai University, Climate Tracker, Commoner, Cuestión Pública, Davao Today, DealStreetAsia, Democratic Voice of Burma, Deutsche Welle Akademie, DFRLab, DigitalMama.id, DreamSpace Media, Earth.Org, EWMI-ODI, Exile Hub, Faqcheck, Fivestones, Fojo Media Institute, Following the Yuan, Frontier Myanmar, Future Forum, FYT Media, Girl's Podcast, Global Investigative Journalism Network, Global Voices, GMA Network, Google, Gravitas PH, Greenhouse, Himal Southasian, Himalmedia, Hong Kong Free Press, Icarus Media, Inclusive Journalism, Indigenous Media Network, Initium Media, Institute for People Centred AI, International Center for Journalists, International Fund for Public Interest Media, International Media Support, Jom, Josh Talks, Journalism Growth Lab, JournalismAI, Justice for Sisters, Kiripost Media, Konde.co, Kontinentalist, Le Havre Normandy University, Legal Initiatives for Vietnam, Lighthouse Reports, Luat Khoa Magazine, Luminate, Macaranga Media, MeaVox Live, Media Development Investment Fund, Media in Cooperation and Transition, MeKong News, Mekong Review, MGID, Mindanao Institute of Journalism, Money2020, Morningtide Capital Partners, News19, Newsworthy.Studio, North Base Media, NU Jabar Online, OnionDev Technologies, Open Society Foundations, Outriders, Pakistan Press International, Prachatai English, Probe, Project Multatuli, PROTO Studio, Pulitzer Center, PumaPodcast, queerbeat, Rappler, Reuters, Rohit Upadhyay Mediaworks, Sanity, Semafor, Shh...Diam!, Stichting Democratie en Media, Stichting Radio Zamaneh, StoryFlow, Studio Zainal & Zainal, Suno India, Thammasat University, The Centrum Media, The Conversation, The Current, The Fourth, The Gender Beat, The Opener, Thibi, TNL Mediagene, Tokyo Investigative Newsroom, Tribal News Network, Trident Media, Trustmeimareporter.com, U Digital Content, ub.life, unnu.news, UX Thrive, Vietnam Weekly, Voice of America, WAN-IFRA, and ZAG Studios.
“Beta didn't just offer a week of inspiration and information, it showed a deep, connected global spirit for what we do and a way of thinking that will stay with me for a long time.”
— Rozina Breen, Bureau of Investigative Journalism, UK
Beta 2022
What is this Splice thing, anyway?
👋 Hi! We’re Rishad and Alan.
We’re the founders of Splice, and Beta is our way of celebrating the work of the incredible media community we’re fortunate enough to be a part of.
Have questions? Check the FAQs or just email us here.
