NUS Enterprise-initiated BLOCK71 has, in partnership with Temasek Foundation, launched a regional innovation programme UniVentures, which aims to bring together the strengths of Singapore’s and Vietnam’s innovation systems, according to an announcement.
The programme is supported by Vietnam’s National Innovation Center (NIC), the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, Golden Gate Ventures, Singapore Global Network, Google Cloud, IBM, and Reactor School.
UniVentures aims to connect founders from Vietnam’s universities with mentorship, market access, and investment networks across the region.
The programme is built around the vision of “University to Unicorn”, aiming to nurture top, future-looking startups founded by students, alumni, and researchers.
Originally designed to support 1,000 of Vietnam’s top university founders, the programme has already attracted nearly 1,500 applications from across Vietnam, signalling strong entrepreneurial ambition and confidence in Vietnam’s innovation landscape.
Edward Lim, Vietnam Country Manager at BLOCK71–NUS Enterprise, said, “UniVentures is our way of betting on Vietnamese founders and turning ambition into access. By unlocking opportunities for Vietnam’s young founders and connecting them to the wider Singapore innovation ecosystem, we’re building not just startups — we’re building future-ready talent and lasting bridges between Singapore and Vietnam.”
Golden Gate Ventures has also partnered with UniVentures to create a US$250,000 prize pool to support up to 10 top-performing startups from the programme.
“It’s our way of accelerating Vietnam’s next wave of founders and supporting the entrepreneurial ties between Singapore and Vietnam,” said Vinnie Lauria, Founding Partner at Golden Gate Ventures.
The programme launched with engagements at leading Vietnamese universities, including Hanoi University of Industry, Hanoi University of Science and Technology, HCMC University of Technology, and VinUniversity, to build a strong first cohort.
