NUS invests S$1.5 million in 15 deep-tech teams

The National University of Singapore (NUS) will be investing up to S$1.5 million in 15 deep-tech teams that have completed the NUS Graduate Research Innovation Programme (GRIP). The programme, managed by the NUS Industry Liaison Office, seeks to tap into the university’s talented graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and research staff to establish and run high-potential startups based on deep technologies from NUS.

In September last year, NUS announced that the university had committed S$25 million to co-create up to 250 deep-tech startups over a five-year period through NUS GRIP. The first run of NUS GRIP has recently been completed and a total of 15 deep-tech teams were recommended to receive the first tranche of seed funding when they form their companies.

These teams offer a broad range of solutions in three key tracks – engineering, biomedical, as well as ICT and lifestyle. Each startup will receive up to S$100,000 in funding from NUS. The first tranche of funding of S$50,000 will be awarded over the next two months, and the remainder of S$50,000 will be invested when the startup secures external investment or grants of at least S$50,000.

Professor Freddy Boey, NUS Senior VP (Graduate Education & Research Translation), said, “NUS GRIP aims to leverage the deep technological capabilities within NUS, and turn innovations into viable and scalable commercial solutions quickly and effectively. The 15 startups selected for this inaugural funding have all shown strong market and business potential. We are pleased to give them a big push in their startup journey and, in turn, accelerate the transfer of these innovations to the market, both locally and globally.”

Professor Boey shared that NUS aims to invest in up to 50 GRIP startups per year over the next five years. "In the long run, we hope that many of these NUS GRIP startups could become successful deep-tech companies and create innovation-based jobs in Singapore, as well as produce a sizeable number of entrepreneurs for the Singapore economy," he said.

The first batch of beneficiaries include inventors building an AI-based system that accurately administers epidurals; software that reads and analyses text; and an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV).

BeeX

Source: NUS. Chia (left) and Goh (right) with the BeeX AUV.

Goh Eng Wei, Research Associate, NUS Advanced Robotics Centre, and Grace Chia, NUS Faculty of Engineering, Class of 2014, came up with the idea for a better AUV. AUVs must typically be tethered, and require bulky and heavy infrastructures for stability. Goh and Chia's BeeX, an autonomous underwater and surface vehicle, is highly manoeuvrable and can be operated wirelessly.

Chia said GRIP has helped them crystallise business strategies. "GRIP funding is essential to accelerate our commercialisation process so that we can reach out to more customers with the same requirements,” she said.

HiCura

Source: NUS. Ng (left), Dr Ma Jun, Research Fellow, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, NUS
Faculty of Engineering (centre), and Leng Yusong, PhD student, NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and
Engineering (right), the inventors of HiCura.

Epidural injections are administered on patients during childbirth to relief pain. Currently,
palpation-based “blind” procedures and ultrasound guided procedures for first-time needle insertion only have a success rate of 40% and 68% respectively. Neither procedure caters to obese patients, and several skilled personnel are typically required at each procedure.

By combining an artificial intelligence (AI)-based image processing software and a needle-based drug injection system, the proprietary HiCura system enables clinicians and anaesthetists to be guided by ultrasound images to administer the epidural to the right location effectively, and in real-time. HiCura achieved a high level of accuracy at 92% in tests. Anaesthetists with differing skill levels are also able to administer the procedure easily given the intuitive interface, and no longer require assistance from nurses.

“What sets GRIP apart was the personal mentorship we received. Our mentor was there to
guide us in the right direction. She understands our needs, listens to our story, and provides valuable advice,” said Ng Cailin, a PhD student, with the NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and
Engineering and one of three co-inventors of HiCura.

Vox Dei

Source: NUS. Dodgson of Vox Dei. Her co-founder Pei Junjie, Research Associate, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS, is not pictured.

Vox Dei utilises a simple algorithm and only requires the processing power of a typical laptop for text analysis. This is unlike existing text analysis methods like latent semantic indexing and natural language processing, which could require high-level coding skills to implement and huge amounts of
processing power.

The team has filed a patent for its technology, secured its first paying client, as well as testing partnerships with academic partners. There are plans to introduce the software to NUS researchers. The team is now working with a local consultancy company to introduce Vox Dei to other public and private sector customers to gather feedback and raise market awareness. The beta version of Vox Dei is expected to be available online by mid-2019.

“I was amazed by how easy and fun creating a startup was - before this, I'd never thought of
it as an option. The whole team's looking forward to being able to work full-time on this. We
are going to use the GRIP funds to improve and speed up the software, so that we can bring it to market,” said Jennifer Dodgson, PhD student, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at NUS and Vox Dei co-founder.

NUS GRIP launched its first call for proposals in August 2018. More than 90 applications were received and 20 startups were selected to participate in the Venture Hothouse, an intensive three-month business validation and venture creation programme. Under the programme, participants worked alongside seasoned tech company veterans to develop an operational business model, intellectual property (IP) strategy and development plan, and go-to-market strategies. Master Engineers also worked together with the teams to develop working prototypes.

This early funding seeks to enable these deep-tech startups to continue to finetune their prototypes further, while they seek further external investments before the second tranche of funding of S$50,000 by NUS. The university will continue to provide project management advice, access to prototyping services and lab facilities, and support these start-ups in raising additional funding.