[20 February 2002]
Singapore Management University Receives a Record 202 Submissions Worldwide for Inaugural Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition

Winning Project will be housed in SMU Incubation Laboratory Building

The inaugural Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition, organised by the Singapore Management University (SMU), received an unprecedented 202 business concept outlines when submissions closed on Monday, 11 February 2002. Entries were received from 74 universities, colleges and polytechnics, spanning 19 countries. This is by far the largest number of submissions received in an open global business plan competition.

Of the 202 business plan outlines received, 48% were international submissions, with representation from leading universities such as the University of Pennsylvania (the Wharton School), Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Wisconsin Madison and the University of Michigan. The topics for international entries range from medical devices to on-line financial products, from consumer-related to industrial products.

The local submissions feature predominantly, with business plans for consumer retail products by Singapore's three universities and four polytechnics. The competition also saw collaborations between local and foreign universities on projects.

All submissions received were filed electronically, enabling the panel of judges from industry to evaluate and rank the preliminary round from their home country. This was made possible by SMU's capitalisation of IT resources and the development of a unique online mechanism to facilitate and attract international participants and judges.

The eventual winners of the competition will be invited to incubate their ventures in SMU's incubation laboratory at no cost. If an international team wins, they will be invited to locate their start-ups in Singapore. Venture capitalists will be invited to fund the winning projects - final negotiations are underway with an international venture capitalist towards this goal. In addition, any investment received from other parties for start-ups will be matched by the Economic Development Board (EDB). This matching grant from EDB is conditional to the start-up being physically located in Singapore.

Participating teams also stand to win up to a total of US$69,000 in prize money (first prize of US$20,000), a complimentary trip to Singapore and a two-night stay at a luxurious Singapore hotel to make their presentation to a panel of international judges for the Finals.

The Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition is organised by SMU, with advisory assistance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Launched on 24 October 2001, the competition is the first-ever international business plan competition to be organised at the undergraduate level, targeting students from universities, colleges and polytechnics internationally.

Initial deadline for submission of the business plan outlines, set on 2 January 2002, was extended to 11 February 2002 due to requests from various interested universities worldwide. With this extension, new dates have also been set for the following:

Major sponsors for the LKY Global Business Plan Competition are Citigroup, Cisco Systems, Egon Zehnder International, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and Shangri-La Hotel Singapore. The EDB and Infocomm Development Authority have also pledged their support for the competition.