SMU Opens 2027 Deep Tech Founder Competition

Singapore Management University has opened applications for the 13th Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition, offering university founders and recent graduates a route to prizes, pilots and investment support. Fifty finalists will travel to Singapore from 28 September to 1 October 2027. They will compete for over S$2.5 million in prizes and can pursue a place in SMU’s Urban SustaInnovator accelerator and US$10 million USI Fund. Organized by SMU’s Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship, the competition covers 12 areas including climate tech, energy, food and land use, urban mobility, longevity and healthtech, and sustainable materials and circularity.

A Route From Pitch To Pilot

Selected finalists can join the Urban SustaInnovator accelerator, launched in 2025, for market access, pilot projects and strategic introductions across Asia. SMU IIE launched the USI Fund in May 2026 to back ventures as they pilot and scale.

“Founders of breakthrough technologies can create value only when they reach the people, industries and communities they are designed to serve. SMU created LKYGBPC as a platform to help founders bring their innovative ideas to life by connecting them with the partners, markets and opportunities needed to turn innovation into real-world impact. Now, through the USI programme and USI Fund, we offer a post-competition pathway to pilot, scale and raise capital throughout Asia,”

Connections Across Asia

LKYGBPC finalists can use SMU’s Overseas Centres in Bangkok, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City and Shenzhen, alongside its International Advisory Councils in eight countries. Malaysian agritech company Qarbotech, a finalist in the 12th competition and part of the inaugural USI accelerator cohort, has used meetings with family offices to secure pilot projects.

“One major thing we gained from the LKYGBPC, and the USI accelerator programme is the meetings we've had with family offices, which helped secure several pilot projects. Right now, we are halfway through a 12-month pilot with a large sugar cane plantation in the Philippines and we're launching in another Southeast Asian market,”

Finalists Win Building Pilots

Standard Physics, formerly Inviscid AI, and Mimicrete, both finalists in the 12th edition, have secured pilot projects with The GEAR by Kajima in Singapore. Standard Physics combines real-time IoT sensor data with computational fluid dynamics to create digital twins for buildings and data centres, while Mimicrete is developing self-healing concrete.

“The accelerators were very complementary. YC was good at getting us from zero to one, and then USI has been very helpful in getting us from one to 10. The USI team can make the right introductions and help you grow,”

Applications Close In March

Singapore’s S$37 billion Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 plan dedicates S$10.8 billion for mission-oriented research across key pillars including urban solutions and sustainability. A S$40 million USS Translation Fund, announced by the Ministry of National Development and Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment, supports companies developing, piloting and commercializing urban and sustainability solutions.

Applications are open to start-ups with at least one founder enrolled in a university program or who graduated within the past five years, and close on 31 March 2027. The 12th edition attracted over 1,500 entries from founders representing 1,200 universities across 91 countries, while finalists from the 9th to 12th editions have collectively raised over S$1 billion.