The National University of Singapore’s innovation arm, NUS Enterprise, has unveiled a S$150 million1 venture capital programme to boost the ecosystem for its deeptech startups.
The bulk of the money – S$100 million – is being set aside for a university venture fund that will focus on the university’s startups and spinouts.
The fund will also target startups emerging from the National Graduate Research Innovation Programme (GRIP), set up by the country’s National Research Foundation to support research commercialisation. GRIP currently invests up to S$250,000 of seed funding per startup.
“National GRIP is an important first step in helping deep tech start-ups take root. The VC Programme builds on this by pairing promising ventures with globally connected investors, enabling a more complete pathway to scale and commercial success. This is essential given that most start-ups struggle to move beyond early-stage innovation toward impactful, real-world deployment.”
Tan Sian Wee, NUS senior vice president (innovation & enterprise)
The as-yet-unnamed S$100 million fund, described as “autonomous”, will look to co-invest alongside external VC partners that are receiving capital from the remaining S$50 million pot.
The first two of these VC partners are Granite Asia and 4BIO Capital, selected in part for their market access in global innovation hubs.
These partnered VC firms will offer structured support beyond capital, including helping founders prepare for fundraising activities, sharing market intelligence and offering mentorship.
“The NUS VC Programme marks a significant step forward for early-stage tech innovation in Asia. By pairing investment with expert-led support, we are accelerating the growth of promising start-ups and strengthening the region’s innovation ecosystem. At 4BIO Capital, we look forward to partnering with NUS on this exciting initiative and learning from each other as we build and grow the companies developing the treatments of tomorrow.”
Dima Kuzmin, managing partner, 4BIO Capital
$117 million / 100€ million / £86.9 million↩︎