A new approach to startup financing that promotes urban innovation. The SMU launched the 'Urban SustaInnovator' (USI) Fund, a $10 million investment fund aimed at helping startup finalists of the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition (LKYGBPC). The finalists can receive up to $250,000 in investments, distributed over multiple years, to pilot and develop their innovative ideas.

This fund is a complement to the USI Accelerator program, which offers a path post-concours for finalists of LKYGBPC to help them access the market, pilot projects, and strategic introductions in Asia. The fundamental difference between this type of financing and traditional startup funding lies in its nature as a purely investment fund, where deep-tech companies are not under pressure from a time limit imposed by venture capital founders, as explained by Rony Palathinkal, head of the LKYGBPC competition and USI Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship of SMU. Furthermore, the fund does not have a temporal limit, allowing the company to develop and learn through experience, which does not happen with traditional startup financing.

The USI Fund was launched in 2025, but it has already produced five pilots and other twenty potential contract negotiations. An example of such success is Qarbotech, a Malaysian startup that obtained access to a large pilot on the same sugar cane production fields in Chilepo, Philippines, thanks to the deals with business families. The SMU proved to be an ideal starting point for startups that want to develop their own urban solutions, offering a regional and global business environment where companies can grow and develop their skills.

This new form of financing represents a step forward in the approach to startup financing, providing innovative startups with alternative ways to develop their ideas and create new solutions.