IIE Acceleration Grant provides start-ups with additional funding to support the growth of their start-up. Up to S$10,000 will be awarded to start-ups who display promise in terms of growth and development. Applicants must apply and be accepted into SMU Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE)’s Business Innovations Generator (BIG) incubation programme to qualify for this grant. 

Awarded startups are required to achieve two milestones within the incubation programme that will be reviewed and accepted by IIE’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence. The grant is awarded on a competitive basis and interested teams are required to present to a panel comprised of business mentors, angel investors and IIE’s incubation managers. 
 

Eligibility 

1. Applicable for start-ups incubated by IIE only
2. One of the founders must be a current SMU student/faculty/staff or SMU alumni
    

Exclusions: 

1. Startups who have received similar funding (e.g. Startup SG Founders Grant) are not eligible. 
2. Start-ups who have received more than USD 1 million in external funding at the time of application are not eligible. 
    

Selection Criteria

The award of the acceleration grant is based on SMU IIE's discretion.
The applying team will be evaluated based on a combination of commercial potential and founders values such as the following:

1. Grit
2. Integrity
3. Coachability
4. Community-oriented
5. Differentiation
6. Market Opportunity
7. Feasibility of business model
8. Management Team
    

Deliverables

Awarded startups are required to achieve two milestones within the incubation program that will be reviewed and accepted by IIE’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence.
 

Process

Interested startups may apply for the grant while submitting their application for incubation.

The grant is awarded on a competitive basis and interested teams are required to present to a panel comprised of business mentors, angel investors and institute's staff.
 

Incubation

The teams are required to be incubated at IIE's Business Innovations Generator (BIG) upon award of the grant if they are not incubated at time of the application.