$50M National Grip Fund: Singapore’s Game-Changer for Deep Tech Start-Ups

Singapore’s deep tech landscape is set for a significant transformation with the announcement of the $50 million National Graduate Research Innovation Programme (Grip) at the Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH). Launching in January 2025, National Grip combines existing incubator initiatives from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to support local researchers and entrepreneurs working in artificial intelligence, space, smart city, and semiconductor technologies. Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat, who chairs the National Research Foundation (NRF), described the programme as a “12-month programme to bridge the gap between scientific research and market application,” enabling start-ups to refine their ideas, validate market needs, and design business models.

The NRF, in collaboration with Temasek, A*Star, and Enterprise Singapore, is backing National Grip with an aim to support 100 deep tech projects annually and assist 300 start-ups by 2028. This marks NRF’s first direct investment into incubation efforts managed by NUS and NTU. Associate Professor Benjamin Tee, Vice-President of Ecosystem Building at NUS Enterprise, highlighted that National Grip will “provide best-in-class training to help our start-ups accelerate their growth, backed by conducive business networks that will help them scale up and get to the market faster.” The programme will also link incubatees with venture capitalists, creating pathways to commercialization and international expansion through NUS Enterprise’s global Block71 network.

Previous successes demonstrate the impact of the programme’s predecessors. NEU Battery Materials, an NUS Grip 2.0 graduate, developed an innovative lithium extraction process and raised $4.9 million in seed funding in 2023. Similarly, NTU’s Lean Launchpad spin-off Zero-Error Systems secured $7.5 million from Airbus Ventures for its satellite-operating semiconductor solutions. Another NTU spin-off, Amperesand, is pioneering smart energy solutions to rapidly charge electric buses. With National Grip, more start-ups will leverage intellectual property from NUS, NTU, and A*Star and tap into Block71’s network spanning San Francisco, Jakarta, and Suzhou, setting the stage for global reach and impact.

Article by Elisha Tushara for The Straits Times. Read more here or download the PDF below.

Deep tech start-ups get $50m boost with new national incubator programme _ The Straits Tim.

Download • 2.19MB