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MEDIA RELEASE

Singapore, 18 March 2024

S$20 million push from NUS to grow Singapore’s deep tech innovation and venture ecosystem   

Singapore’s flagship university doubles the funding and provides incentives to translate deep tech into impactful solutions  

NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS), has launched the S$10 million Innovation Fellowship and Venture Creation Awards today at the NUS Deep Tech Venture Showcase, which was graced by Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic Policies. The Awards will boost the translation of cutting-edge research and innovation achieved by NUS faculty and researchers into impactful solutions. The University is also committing S$10 million to provide more pre-seed funding to successful teams under the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme (GRIP) through the enhanced GRIP 2.0. 

"Research, Innovation, and Enterprise is an integral part of our mission to foster a dynamic, lifelong learning environment within NUS. We nurture curiosity and the entrepreneurial spirit while providing the support to bring ambitious impactful ideas to life. Through these efforts, we shape the future and contribute to Singapore's strong position as a leading Global-Asia node for technology, innovation, and enterprise," said Professor Chen Tsuhan, Deputy President (Innovation and Enterprise), NUS. 

Encouraging deep tech entrepreneurship with the Innovation Fellowship and Venture Creation Awards

The newly launched Innovation Fellowship and Venture Creation Awards is designed to spur NUS faculty and researchers – many of whom have a strong track record in deep tech – to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset as they pursue their research. The awards recognise and incentivise these innovators who are at varying stages of their academic careers, with the aim of motivating them to commercialise their research into tangible solutions.  

Awardees will receive a two-year grant and guidance from NUS Enterprise to support them in their research commercialisation journey. This initiative aims to enrich the pipeline for new venture creation from Singapore’s deep tech innovations. Successful awardees could be further supported via GRIP in the next phase of their deep tech venture journey.   

There are three categories for the Innovation Fellowship and Venture Creation Awards – Innovation Fellow, Provost’s Innovation Chair Professor, and President’s Venture Creation Chair Professor (Please see full details in Annexe A).  

GRIP 2.0: 2.5 times more funding for successful GRIP teams

Launched in 2018, the year-long flagship venture creation GRIP guides NUS post-graduate students, researchers, and alumni to grow into deep tech entrepreneurs, nurturing early-stage ventures from research commercialisation.  

Since its inception, GRIP has nurtured and provided funding support to more than 430 aspiring founders who formed close to 160 teams. These aspiring founders and teams have since raised over S$55 million in external investments. To further accelerate the translation of innovations into impactful real-world solutions, the programme has evolved to GRIP 2.0. Successful GRIP teams will receive up to S$250,000 in pre-seed funding, which is 2.5 times more than the funding for earlier teams. NUS has set aside S$10 million for this initiative. (Please see more details about GRIP in Annexe B). 

Prominent venture capital firms to guide and open doors for GRIP teams

Beyond initial seed capital, NUS Enterprise has also established strategic collaborations with three prominent venture capital firms to-date: Legend Capital, SOSV Investments LLC and Vertex Holdings, which collectively manage more than US$10 billion in assets. NUS Enterprise is exploring more of such collaborations to provide coaching for GRIP start-ups and support them in increasing their investment readiness, specialised market access and deep industry expertise. 

The venture capital firms will provide practical and network expertise through direct engagement with individual start-ups facilitated by the GRIP programme. This provides GRIP start-ups with access to an extensive network of resources – including tailored guidance – to help them advance to the next phase of development. 

“At NUS Enterprise, we are uniquely placed to have access to the latest frontier research and breakthroughs at one of the top universities in the region, while providing access to a global start-up ecosystem. The new Innovation Fellowship and Venture Creation Awards and GRIP 2.0 are concerted, complementary efforts to accelerate deep tech innovation and venture creation for maximum impact. These initiatives will provide academics, researchers as well as NUS alumni the access to a supportive ecosystem for the greatest chance at success,” said Associate Professor Benjamin Tee, Associate Vice President, NUS Enterprise. 

 

Annexe A

Tiered Innovation Fellowship and Venture Creations Awards 

Award                             Eligibility  Quantum of Award 
Innovation Fellow  Early Career Post Doctoral Fellow  S$80,000 per year for 2 years 
Provost’s Innovation Chair Professor  Full-time faculty with some track record for research translation   S$150,000 per year for 2 years 
President’s Venture Creation Chair Professor  Full-time faculty on the tenure track with a strong track record in research translation  S$250,000 per year for 2 years 

 

Annexe B

About NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme (GRIP) 

Over the past five years, GRIP has nurtured and provided funding support to more than 430 aspiring founders who formed close to 160 teams. These aspiring founders and teams have subsequently raised more than a total of S$55 million in external investments.  

GRIP 2.0: Expanding Talent Pool and Support for Deep Tech Venture Building

Aside from current NUS students, GRIP is now extended to a network of 350,000 NUS alumni, providing them with access to NUS intellectual property, a well-established venture creation programme, and a supportive start-up community. This encourages NUS alumni with innovative ideas or a passion for making a difference, to re-engage with their alma mater and pursue innovation and entrepreneurship. 

In recognition of differentiated needs for deep tech ventures from software-based innovations, NUS Enterprise launched a computing technologies track – GRIP PRIME, in collaboration with the NUS School of Computing. It is designed to support the rapid innovation pace of the software industry. Rooted in the lean start-up methodology, the collaboration offers a systematic framework for teams to swiftly test and refine their business ideas. Customised for software teams, this programme serves as a driving force for exploring advanced technologies in areas such as Generative Artificial Intelligence and Web 3.0. 

Under the enhanced GRIP 2.0, funding for GRIP teams will also increase to S$250,000, which is 2.5 times more than the initial funding of S$100,000.  

In addition, NUS Enterprise is enhancing its curriculum and mentorship support to develop more robust early-stage deep tech start-ups. For a start, NUS Enterprise has formed strategic partnerships with three leading venture capital firms Legend Capital, SOSV Investments LLC, and Vertex Holdings, to provide topical industry expertise and guidance for GRIP start-ups in areas such as regulatory pathways for clinical products, and preparation for fundraising. These firms possess a wealth of expertise in managing more than US$10 billion in assets collectively.  

For more information on GRIP, please visit https://nus.edu.sg/grip/. The full list of GRIP companies is available at https://nus.edu.sg/grip/portfolio/.