NUS - National University of Singapore

STRONG FUNDING SUPPORT

Apart from sourcing for dedicated mentors and providing comprehensive incubation facilities for our NUS start-ups, we also seek to establish funding schemes and R&D resources to support these fledgling companies.

Two examples of NUS spin-off companies that have successfully raised third party funding are BioMers, a medical device company that focuses on aesthetic orthodontic solutions and tenCube, a mobile security software company. BioMers successfully closed a round of funding from Nanostart Asia, a local subsidiary of German company Nanostart AG while tenCube secured US$1 million in strategic investments from One97 Communications, a leading telecommunications application services provider in India.

In August 2010, tenCube was acquired by McAfee Inc., the world’s largest dedicated security technology company based in California.

tenCube was founded by four NUS graduates Darius Cheung, Varun Chatterji, Rishi Israni and Indradeep Biswas, who had won the Start-up@Singapore Business Plan Competition 2006. The company had tapped on NUS Enterprise’s ecosystem of business clinics, network of private angels and infrastructure support as well as the incubator’s pool of mentors. It also secured a presence in the United States through the University’s launchpad in NUS College in Silicon Valley.

tenCube’s accomplishment is an indication of the growing success of NUS start-ups which have made an impact in an era of fast evolving technologies and innovations.

Money Matters with PlayMoolah

The NUS Overseas College stint at Silicon Valley provided a great source of inspiration for students Lee Min Xuan (left, NUS Business School/University Scholars Programme Year 4) and Audrey Tan (right, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Year 4).
   Noting the rapid propagation of consumerism in popular children’s games and media coupled with the declining state of financial literacy in the United States, Min Xuan and Audrey chanced upon the idea to leverage on game mechanics (a new field of persuasive technology) to effect positive behavioural change and cultivate good money management habits.
   Buoyed by the overwhelming interest and encouragement shown by their Stanford University professors, a web-based tool PlayMoolah was conceptualised to help parents and their children navigate the process of financial education together. “We aim to start young and empower children with the tools to take control of their lives and learn with a sense of purpose and ownership,” explained Audrey. “The technology is designed for behaviour and mindset change, such that they will be equipped with the confidence and skills needed for financial literacy.”
   The duo spent a year engaging in customer development through surveys, focus groups and voluntary teaching in schools. They have also raised seed funding, built a prototype and tested their Minimum Viable Product (MVP) with a core group of parents and children. PlayMoolah will be launched next year in the United States.
   “PlayMoolah has enabled us to meet the most inspired, intelligent and compassionate people who come up with solutions for the world’s problems,” said Min Xuan. “It is exciting to work on something fundamentally game-changing which matters to people.”