Singapore’s Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Research Foundation (NRF) Heng Swee Keat announced the National Graduate Research Innovation Program (National GRIP) on Tuesday.

The program, a collaboration between NRF, the National University of Singapore (NUS) and the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU, Singapore) will launch in January 2025, with a commitment of S$50 million ($37.8 million) in financial and in-kind support over five years.

National GRIP integrates two existing incubator programs – NUS’s Graduate Research Innovation Program 2.0 (NUS GRIP 2.0) and NTU’s Lean Launchpad (LLP2.0).

The new program will be a comprehensive incubator program designed to bridge the gap between scientific research and market application. It will support startup teams by helping them refine their initial ideas, validate market needs, and design robust business models through a structured program framework.

With personalized mentorship from industry leaders and access to a network of experts, National GRIP aims to train up to 300 startup teams by 2028 and nurture more than 150 spin-offs by 2030, propelling innovative solutions from the lab to the global marketplace and enhancing Singapore’s position as a leader in technological entrepreneurship.

The 12-month program will accept aspiring founders, innovators and researchers from Singapore’s autonomous universities (AUs) and A*STAR research institutes (RIs).

Participants will come together to form teams and draw on the distinctive strengths of their respective institutions, e.g. in research, design, business, engineering, for deep tech venture creation.

Participants of National GRIP will be able to tap into the extensive pool of intellectual property across AUs and A*STAR RIs and can also join existing teams in NUS GRIP 2.0 and LLP2.0 to launch deep tech startups.

As a platform that aggregates a critical mass of deep tech startups, teams can be effectively matched with suitable investors and vice versa.

National GRIP will deepen partnerships with deep tech venture capitalists (VCs) and venture builders, such as current NUS Grip 2.0 strategic partners Legend Capital, SOSV Investments LLC and Vertex
Holdings, by involving them early in the programme to provide stronger commercial insights to the teams.

These partners help to support startups by increasing their investment readiness and access to specialised markets and deepening their industry expertise. Additionally, there are plans to leverage VCs’ networks to attract experienced founders who can team up with the startup teams as co-founders, advisors or collaborators to accelerate the start-ups’ growth.

To help startups scale and expand internationally, National GRIP will also act as a springboard for startups to go beyond local connections, leveraging the global network of NUS BLOCK713
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Associate Professor Benjamin Tee, Vice President (Ecosystem Building), NUS Enterprise said, “We are pleased to partner with NTU in launching the National GRIP initiative with the support of NRF. This initiative integrates the two leading programs to further mature our deep tech startup ecosystem in Singapore, equipping teams with essential building blocks from idea validation to market readiness.”

Professor Louis Phee, NTU’s Vice President (Innovation and Entrepreneurship), added, “Bringing together Singapore’s two leading universities to collaborate and lead all local universities in innovation and entrepreneurship presents a tremendous opportunity for the nation. It allows us to combine our strengths and experiences in venture building and entrepreneurial education, to identify and train the best talent in Singapore.”

Carmen Yuen, General Partner, Vertex Ventures, Southeast Asia & India, applauded the National GRIP initiative saying, “National GRIP provides a safe environment for teams to discover, experiment, and refine their propositions while validating them through participation with VC funds. When done right, I believe we’ll see more VC funds actively backing university spin-outs.”