SUTD to launch S$3.2 million Baby Shark Fund for ‘micro-innovation’ student projects

A NEW S$3.2 million fund will support “micro-innovation” ideas by students from the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD), to complement existing funding programmes for more advanced projects.

The Baby Shark Fund aims to encourage students to venture into uncharted waters. Named after the reality television series Shark Tank, where entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to investors, the fund will provide up to S$6,000 for each team of at least two student innovators.

“With the new Baby Shark Fund, we hope to provide every student with the opportunity to engage in bottom-up innovation by experimenting continuously,” said SUTD president Chong Tow Chong in a media release announcing the upcoming fund.

Applications for the fund will open this September. The initial S$3.2 million figure is expected to last “a few years”, and when this is fully disbursed, the programme will be replenished with fresh funding, said an SUTD spokesperson.

“As students move along the innovation journey, they can apply for larger funding through other funds that are available,” she added.

For instance, students who become startup founders can apply for Enterprise Singapore’s Startup SG Founder grant, with SUTD as an accredited mentor partner. The university also has the Create4Good Innovation Fund, which grants up to S$50,000 to startups that seek to reduce inequality in Singapore.

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Said SUTD’s student government vice-president Xie Jiacheng: “In our courses, we sometimes strike gold with our project ideas, and see potential as a real business. The Baby Shark Fund would enable us to earnestly pursue the critical first few months of development without fear of failure.”

To qualify, SUTD students in either undergraduate or masters programmes must present their ideas to a panel of faculty and industry professionals. The projects will be evaluated based on their level of innovation and impact.

The programme will be administered through SUTD’s Venture, Innovation and Entrepreneurship office, with multiple submission windows throughout the year.