Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (12th Edition)

Inspired by one of the world’s most visionary leaders, the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC) is one of the world’s largest deep-tech university startup challenges.

Every two years, their pitch competition lights up a global stage for university startups to showcase their groundbreaking innovations and connect with the world, fueling their growth.

Powered by Singapore Management University’s Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (SMU IIE), they have fostered a global youth innovation village and launched countless successful ventures solving real-world challenges since 2002.

Focus Areas

• Carbon Tech
• Climate Tech
• Emerging Tech
• Energy Transitions
• Food & Land Use
• Green Buildings & Constructions
• Homeland Security
• Public Health
• Sustainable Materials & Circularity
• Transport & Logistics
• Urban Mobility Solutions
• Water Solutions

Prizes

• The top 50 teams stand to receive sponsored airfare and accommodation trips to Singapore, meet influential business leaders and potential co-founders, and win prizes at the World’s Largest University Startup Challenge!

Eligibility Criteria

• Teams must meet all the following eligibility requirements in order to be selected to compete:
  • Category 0 to 1: Pre-revenue teams driving commercialization opportunities with transformative potential in urban solutions and sustainability
    • Academic research that drives groundbreaking deep-tech solutions, fostering commercialisation opportunities to tackle challenges in urban solutions and sustainability. These innovations may still require validation but promise transformative impact.
    • Team is in initial phases of ideation up to having a minimum viable product (MVP) that has yet to be launched in the market
    • Each team/startup must have at least founding member/founder, who is a current student or recent alumni of less than 5 years.
    • “Current student” is defined as any person who is enrolled in a full-time polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD programme at a tertiary institute.
    • “Alumni of less than 5 years” is defined as any person who has graduated at a tertiary institute from 31 March 2020 onwards.
    • Persons who were previously enrolled full-time in a polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD program but dropped out between 31 March 2020 and 31 March 2025 are also eligible to apply.
    • There is no restriction on the number of members in a team or company
  • Category 1 to Infinity: Revenue-generating early stage start-ups, up to Series A
    • Startup is in phases of initial sales or looking to scale
    • Typically, product or service has launched in the market, and is seeking their next customer(s) and/or to enter a new market
    • Each team/startup must have at least founding member/founder, who is a current student or recent alumni of less than 5 years.
      • “Current student” is defined as any person who is enrolled in a full-time polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD programme at a tertiary institute.
      • “Alumni of less than 5 years” is defined as any person who has graduated at a tertiary institute from 31 March 2020 onwards.
      • Persons who were previously enrolled full-time in a polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD program but dropped out between 31 March 2020 and 31 March 2025 are also eligible to apply.
  • Size
    • There is no restriction on the number of members in a team or company
    • Each individual member may be a part of only 1 team. In the event that members are part of more than 1 team, all such teams will be disqualified.
  • Nature of Start-up
    • The competition is for new, independent start-ups in the pre-seed, seed or early growth stages.
    • Buy-outs of existing businesses, expansions of existing companies, franchises, licensing agreements for distribution in a different geographical area, and spin-offs from existing corporations are not eligible for the competition.

For more information, visit SMU IIE.