LKY GBPC 12th Edition — Grand Prizes
Supports biennial deep tech competitions for university affiliated startups with prize visibility and innovation momentum.
⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
The Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKY GBPC) is a biennial international startup competition hosted by Singapore Management University (SMU), focused on deep-technology ventures. The 12th edition ran from 29 September to 2 October 2025 in Singapore. Registration and participation are free and no equity or intellectual property rights are claimed from participants. The competition awards prizes including the Lee Kuan Yew BETA Prize, the Lee Kuan Yew Infinity Prize, People's Choice Awards of S$10,000 each, investment prizes from Antler and Wavemaker, and multiple corporate sponsor awards, with a total prize pool exceeding S$2.5 million.
Eligibility requires that at least one founder be a current student or a university alumnus or alumna who graduated within the past five years. Current students must have been enrolled full-time in a polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD programme as of 30 April 2025 for the 12th edition. Individuals who dropped out between 31 March 2020 and 30 April 2025 are also eligible. The competition operates two tracks: Category 0 to 1 (pre-revenue, early-stage through MVP) and Category 1 to Infinity (revenue-generating startups seeking growth, typically Series A or earlier). Evaluation criteria are innovativeness, commercial feasibility, impact of idea, and capability to execute.
Applications for the 12th edition opened 6 January 2025 with a final deadline of 30 April 2025 at 23:59 SGT; an early-bird deadline fell on 5 March 2025. Submissions required an executive summary of maximum 500 words in PDF, a pitch deck of maximum 20 slides, and an optional video presentation of up to five minutes. The 13th edition has opened registration but prize amounts and deadlines had not been published as of the May 2026 research date. University-affiliated deep-tech teams planning ahead should monitor the SMU LKY GBPC website for 13th edition call details.
Biennial global business plan competition open to university-affiliated deep-tech startups, awarding prizes including S$10,000 People's Choice Awards and investment prizes across technology and sustainability tracks.
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