India, October 29, 2026: The 13th Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC) has begun accepting applications from university founders and recent graduates developing deep-tech solutions for urban and sustainability challenges, organisers announced on Thursday. The competition, organised by Singapore Management University’s Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SMU IIE), will see 50 finalists flown to Singapore from September 28 to October 1, 2027, to compete for over S$2.5 million (US$2 million) in prizes and participate in an Innovation Festival.
LKYGBPC, established in 2002, is regarded as one of Asia’s most globally representative deep-tech start-up competitions, with 12 focus areas including climate tech, energy, food and land use, urban mobility, longevity and healthtech, and sustainable materials and circularity. The event is open to start-ups with at least one founder currently enrolled in a university programme or who graduated within the past five years.
Finalists gain access to accelerator and funding
Selected finalists will have the opportunity to join SMU’s Urban SustaInnovator (USI) accelerator, launched in 2025, which supports start-ups through market access, pilot projects, and strategic introductions across Asia. In May 2026, SMU IIE introduced the USI Fund, a US$10 million fund to back promising ventures as they pilot and scale their solutions.
Rony Palathinkal, Head of the LKYGBPC and Urban SustaInnovator at SMU IIE, said the competition and subsequent accelerator programme are designed to help founders connect with partners, markets, and opportunities needed to bring their innovations to real-world deployment. “Now, through the USI programme and USI Fund, we offer a post-competition pathway to pilot, scale, and raise capital throughout Asia,” Palathinkal said.
SMU’s regional network supports start-ups
SMU leverages its network of Overseas Centres in Bangkok, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City and Shenzhen, as well as International Advisory Councils in eight countries, to help start-ups access partners and scale across borders. Professor Sun Sun Lim, SMU’s Vice President of Partnerships and Engagement and Lee Kong Chian Professor of Communication & Technology, said the university’s network enables connections with industry, government, and community partners across Asia.
Singapore-based Standard Physics (formerly Inviscid AI), founded by Qiu Ziming and Kabir Jain, was a finalist in the 12th LKYGBPC, later joining Y Combinator’s Winter 2026 cohort and SMU’s inaugural USI accelerator. The start-up, which uses physics-informed AI and IoT-powered digital twins to optimise energy efficiency in buildings and data centres, secured a pilot with The GEAR by Kajima and is in talks for three more opportunities. It has raised US$2.3 million in seed funding led by Square Peg Capital and is preparing to launch an AI-powered agentic engineering platform.
Competition scale and impact
The 12th edition of LKYGBPC in October 2025 attracted over 1,500 entries from founders representing 1,200 universities across 91 countries. Finalists from the 9th to 12th editions have collectively raised over S$1 billion. Shirley Wong, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at SMU IIE, Chairperson of the 13th LKYGBPC Advisory Committee, and Managing Partner of TNF Ventures, said the competition brings together founders globally and connects them with Singapore’s ecosystem of industry, investors, and institutions to accelerate solutions with regional and global impact.
Singapore’s government is supporting the country’s ambition to become a global sustainability innovation hub through initiatives such as the S$37 billion RIE 2030 plan, which includes S$10.8 billion for mission-oriented research, and a S$40 million USS Translation Fund to support the development and commercialisation of urban and sustainability solutions.
Applications for the 13th LKYGBPC close on March 31, 2027.
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