NUS - National University of Singapore

1 August 2009 – 31 July 2010

Raising our profile among external stakeholders and the entrepreneurial community, the University was actively involved in a number of prestigious events during the year of review.

The highlight of the year was the launch of the inaugural InnovFest 2010, which pulled together a series of innovation and entrepreneurship-related events to boost investment, technology transfer and networking opportunities within the finance, business and technology communities in Asia. One of these events was the Technology Commercialisation Forum 2010, which attracted some 300 industry stakeholders and technology transfer professionals and highlighted key emerging technologies from the region.

InnovFest 2010 also saw the launch of the Xtra Chapter Challenge Programme and Innovation/Entrepreneurship Practicum Grant. Supported by the National Research Foundation under the University Innovation Fund, these initiatives were introduced to encourage the University community to develop and further commercialise their business ideas.

Under the Xtra Chapter Challenge Programme, three awards were given, one of which was presented to a research project on the discovery of Entritin, a cell-penetrating peptide (amino acid chain) that constitutes an important vector for topical and oral drug delivery. A total of seven grants under the Innovation/Entrepreneurship Practicum Grant was also presented. One of these grants was awarded to a project on the development of a medical device to help cerebral palsy patients improve their quality of life.

The Global Entrepreneurship Week 2009 (GEW 2009), which celebrated the pursuit of entrepreneurship, was another key event which attracted the participation of 29 partners from secondary schools, non-profit organisations and MNCs all over Singapore. As a testament to the high level of interest and success in this field, the GEW events collectively engaged 19,600 participants in over 40 events, an increase of over 8,000 participants from its inaugural launch in 2008.

May the phone be with you

tenCube’s success story will set the benchmark for local start-ups to make good on the global stage.
   A home-grown NUS start-up company founded by four NUS graduates – (clockwise from top left) Darius Cheung, Indradeep Biswas, Varun Chatterji and Rishi Israni – tenCube was acquired by McAfee Inc., the world’s largest dedicated security provider, in August 2010.
   Set up in 2005 to solve the problem of mobile phone theft, tenCube’s idea dramatically evolved into a full suite of device and data protection features within the first year. “We had all felt the pain of losing phones,” said Rishi Israni, tenCube’s Founder and Chief Technology Officer. “It was the loss of two mobile phones in two weeks that sparked off the idea.”
   tenCube founders put their combined savings of S$30,000 to start the company. They subsequently won the Start-up@Singapore Business Plan Competition 2006 and the prize money of S$30,000 was used as additional seed funding. Tapping on the NUS Enterprise incubation ecosystem, tenCube also leveraged on its overseas launchpad in Silicon Valley to gain a presence in the United States.
   In 2008, tenCube launched its anti-theft software for mobile platforms called WaveSecure for consumers. Its first breakthrough was an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) deal with Nokia in India followed by other telecom operators in the region including SingTel.
    The tenCube team has braced itself for a more exciting ride ahead. “We see great synergy in our unique product expertise and McAfee’s market reach which will help solve the problem of mobile phone theft faster,” said Rishi.
   With this synergy, the product’s tagline “May the phone be with you” will certainly ring true.