Deadline: April 30, 2025
Applications are open for the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition 2025. Named in honour of Singapore’s founding Prime Minister – who can be said to have developed the country’s defining business plan in pitching Singapore into the global spotlight – it was one of the first international business plan competition platforms for the world’s best and brightest next-gen innovators to solve global challenges.
In over two decades since, the competition, which is held every two years, has grown leaps and bounds: From just over 200 submissions from 74 tertiary institutions in 2002, to 1,000 submissions from 1,100 institutions in 2023.
Today, LKYGBPC is a recognised beacon of excellence in global youth innovation. As one of Asia’s most globally representative and exciting deep-tech startup challenges, hundreds of next-gen entrepreneurs and leaders in the global innovation ecosystem converge in Singapore for an exciting week of live pitches, networking, mentorship and learning.
Beyond the competition, the platform has become a launchpad for a rising tide of alumni who are continually innovating to make the world a better place.
Prizes
- Up to $1 Million in Prizes: Includes cash awards, startup resources, mentorships, and scholarships.
- Global Visibility: Pitch to an international panel of investors, VCs, and industry experts.
- All-Expenses-Paid Trip to Singapore: Selected teams will be flown in to compete in the Grand Finals from September 29 – October 2, 2025.
- Mentorship & Access: Engage with over 200+ VC funds, family offices, and ecosystem partners.
- Networking Opportunities: Join an elite circle of the world’s most ambitious startups and student innovators.
- Mention Startups Without Borders in your application for community recognition.
Eligibility
- Open to all next gen startup founders.
- To be eligible, the team or startup must have at least one founder who is a current tertiary student or a recent tertiary graduate (within the last five years).
Category 0 to 1: Pre-revenue teams/startups with novel technology or business model innovations
- Technology innovations that have emerged from academic research with commercialisation opportunities that may or may not be fully validated.
- Innovative business models that may or may not be fully validated.
- Team is in initial phases of ideation up to having a minimum viable product (MVP) that has yet to be launched in the market.
- Each team / startup must have at least one founder, who is a current student or recent alumni of less than 5 years.
- “Current student” is defined as any person who is enrolled in a full-time polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD programme at a tertiary institute.
- “Alumni of less than 5 years” is defined as any person who has graduated at a tertiary institute from 31 March 2020 onwards.
- Persons who were previously enrolled full-time in a polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD program but dropped out between March 31, 2020 and April 30, 2025 are also eligible to apply.
- There is no restriction on the number of members in a team or company.
Category 1 to Infinity: Revenue-generating early stage start-ups, up to Series A
- Startup is in phases of initial sales or looking to scale.
- Typically, product or service has launched in the market, and is seeking their next customer(s) and/or to enter a new market.
- Each team / startup must have at least one founder, who is a current student or recent alumni of less than 5 years.
- “Current student” is defined as any person who is enrolled in a full-time polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD programme at a tertiary institute.
- “Alumni of less than 5 years” is defined as any person who has graduated at a tertiary institute from 31 March 2020 onwards.
- Persons who were previously enrolled full-time in a polytechnic, undergraduate, postgraduate, or PhD program but dropped out between March 31, 2020 and April 30, 2025 are also eligible to apply.
- There is no restriction on the number of members in a team or company.
Application
To apply, the following materials will be required for your application during the Preliminary Round. Failure to submit the materials online by the announced deadline will result in disqualification.
- Complete an application form on the official platform.
- Executive Summary
- Not more than 500 words, in pdf
- File should be named in this format: Summary_TeamName.pdf
- Pitch Deck Presentation
- Not more than 20 slides, in pdf
- File should be named in this format: Presentation_TeamName.pdf
- Video presentation (Optional)
- This is encouraged but not required.
- Video should be no longer than 5 minutes with preference for mp4.
- File should be named in this format: Video_TeamName.mp4
- All submitted materials must be the original work of the participating team.
For more information, visit Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition.
