NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial heart of the National University of Singapore (NUS), is deepening its global links as NUSX through a new partnership with UnternehmerTUM.
The collaboration will connect the Singapore and Munich innovation ecosystems, giving NUS DeepTech ventures more direct access to European partners, investors and market opportunities, while opening Singapore and Asia to Munich-based ventures.
Munich is one of Europe’s leading technology and innovation hubs, ranking among Europe’s top five in the Global Tech Ecosystem Index 2026 and 11th globally for AI. Its strengths in research, technology and venture creation make it a strategic base for NUSX ventures looking to access partners, capital and markets across Europe.
The partnership will focus on three areas: reciprocal outposts, investment and talent development, with initial efforts centred on biotech, AI and semiconductors.
A new NUSX base in Munich
At the centre of the partnership is NUSX’s second global outpost, which will be based at the Munich Urban Colab, an 11,000-square-metre innovation centre jointly established by UnternehmerTUM and the City of Munich.
From there, NUSX will connect NUS DeepTech ventures with the wider UnternehmerTUM and TUM Venture Labs ecosystem, providing access to industry partners, technical expertise and opportunities to validate technologies in the European market.
The connection is intended to work both ways. TUM Venture Labs, a joint initiative of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) and UnternehmerTUM, is exploring a representative presence at the NUS i³ building in Singapore, where NUSX is based.
This would give Munich-based ventures a direct entry point into Singapore’s innovation ecosystem and wider connections across Asia.
The collaboration builds on NUS Enterprise’s longstanding relationship with TUM through the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme. NOC Munich was established in 2017 and has since connected nearly 120 NUS students and more than 90 TUM students through exchanges between Singapore and Munich.
Alumni of the programme have gone on to build ventures including Factorem.
“This collaboration with UnternehmerTUM builds on our longstanding ties with the Technical University of Munich as NUSX deepens its global venture-building network,” said Dr. Tan Sian Wee, NUS Senior Vice President (Innovation & Enterprise).
“Through reciprocal outposts, deeper investment links, and new opportunities for our students and startups, we are bringing talent, research and capital closer together. This gives founders greater access to the partners, expertise and markets they need to validate, build and scale DeepTech ventures from Singapore.”
Deepening investment links
Investment will form another part of the collaboration. NUS is in advanced discussions with a Munich-based venture capital firm closely affiliated with UnternehmerTUM to join the €102 million NUS VC Programme as its fifth VC partner.
The move would expand the network of international investors supporting NUS-affiliated ventures and give founders stronger links to European capital. More broadly, the partnership is designed to support ventures across the full journey from talent development and research commercialisation to investment and global market entry.
Its initial focus on BioTech, AI and semiconductors reflects areas of strength across both ecosystems. TUM ranks first in Germany in data science and AI, while its School of Life Sciences is home to 10 of the university’s 17 most-cited researchers.
The areas also align with NUSX’s innovation priorities and Singapore’s RIE2030 strategy, which commits €25 billion (S$37 billion) over five years to research, innovation and enterprise, including flagship programmes in semiconductors and health.
Building venture talent across borders
The partnership will also create new opportunities for NUS students to gain hands-on venture-building experience in Munich.
NOC students will have opportunities to intern with portfolio companies of the Munich-based VC partner, gaining direct exposure to building and scaling technology ventures in Europe.
Selected NUS students will also be able to access UnternehmerTUM programmes focused on IP-based venture creation, including Startup Launchpad, Digital Product School and the UnternehmerTUM Incubator.
These opportunities build on NUS Enterprise’s existing presence in Munich while broadening students’ exposure to research commercialisation, venture creation and technology businesses in Europe.
“With this partnership, we open a direct gateway between two of the world’s most dynamic innovation ecosystems,” said Professor Helmut Schönenberger, CEO, UnternehmerTUM and Vice President, Entrepreneurship, TUM.
“DeepTech ventures need more than one home market to grow – they need access to research, capital and industry partners across continents. By connecting Munich and Singapore through reciprocal outposts, we give founders on both sides exactly that: a direct path from an idea to a global venture. This is a natural next step in our long-standing collaboration with NUS, and we look forward to building it together with NUSX.”
