Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition 12th Edition ($1M+ in Prizes and Counting)

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Applications are open for 12th Edition of the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition. 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.

Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition 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 for Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition

This competition is open to all next gen startup founders. To be eligible, the team or startup must have at least one founder who is a current tertiary student or a recent tertiary graduate (within the last five years).

Category and Composition

Category 0 to 1: Pre-revenue teams/startups with novel technology or business model innovations
- Technology innovations that have emerged from academic research with commercialisation opportunities that may or may not be fully validated
- Innovative business models that may or may not be fully validated
- 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 one 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 one 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

How To Apply

To apply, the following materials will be required for your application during the Preliminary Round. Failure to submit the materials online by the announced deadline will result in disqualification.

Complete an application form on the official platform.
Executive Summary
- Not more than 500 words, in pdf
- File should be named in this format: Summary_TeamName.pdf
Pitch Deck Presentation
- Not more than 20 slides, in pdf
- File should be named in this format: Presentation_TeamName.pdf
Video presentation (Optional)
- This is encouraged but not required.
- Video should be no longer than 5 minutes with preference for mp4.
- File should be named in this format: Video_TeamName.mp4
All submitted materials must be the original work of the participating team.

Click Here to Apply and more details

Application Deadline:

Eary-bird deadline: 5th March 2025

Final submission deadline: 31st March 2025