NUS Enterprise Expands Globally with Nova: A Revolutionary AI Platform for Research Commercialisation

NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial heart of the National University of Singapore (NUS), Asia’s leading university, just announced its first European outpost in Munich, established through a new partnership with UnternehmerTUM and expanding its global network beyond Silicon Valley. It will also set up a new outpost in Shanghai and has launched Nova, an AI platform for research commercialisation.

Together, these initiatives mark a new chapter for NUS Enterprise, which also unveiled its new identity as NUSX. The new identity reflects its evolution into an integrated venture-building and IP commercialisation platform, bringing together research, talent, industry, capital, and global markets to turn discoveries into ventures and help them scale.

Connecting ecosystems across Munich, Silicon Valley and Shanghai

Building on the launch of its first outpost at Playground Global’s The Studio in Silicon Valley in July 2026, NUSX is establishing its second outpost in Munich, with a third outpost planned for Shanghai in the fourth quarter of 2026. These outposts form part of NUSX’s broader globalisation strategy, giving NUS deep tech ventures earlier access to overseas markets, partners, investors and customers across the United States, Europe and China.

The Munich outpost will serve as one of NUSX’s gateways to Europe, connecting NUS deep tech ventures with one of the region’s leading technology and innovation ecosystems. Insights and experience gained overseas will also flow back into Singapore, strengthening education, research translation and commercialisation pathways at home. Together, the outposts reinforce Singapore’s role as a globally connected innovation hub, linking talent, technology and markets across East and West.

NUSX has entered into a new partnership with UnternehmerTUM, announced at A5X, to strengthen its presence in Europe’s leading technology and innovation hub. The collaboration will connect NUS deep tech ventures more closely with Munich’s innovation ecosystem, while strengthening innovation links between Singapore, Europe and Asia. It spans three areas: reciprocal outposts, investment and talent development, with an initial focus on biotech, AI and semiconductors. (Refer to the separate joint media release issued today by NUSX and UnternehmerTUM for further details on the Singapore-Munich partnership.)

Discovering commercial opportunities through AI

An estimated 70% to 80% of university patents worldwide are never licensed. One challenge is finding the right commercial partner, which can require extensive manual searching with no guarantee of a match. Researchers understand the scientific value of their work but may have limited visibility into the industry problems it could solve, the companies that could benefit from it, or the most promising route to market.

To address this, NUSX and Zima Labs have jointly developed Nova, an AI-powered engine for research commercialisation. Within minutes, Nova can analyse a single granted patent and, within minutes, assess its licensing potential against live market evidence, rank potential licensees based on complementary fit and draft tailored proposals for each, while also flagging the patent’s limitations. The platform draws on more than 20,000 NUS patents and invention disclosures, 9,000 research projects and 11,000 inventors.

Nova connects NUS data on global patents, research, start-ups and talent with external intelligence on companies, investors, industry needs and market activities. Through AI-powered search and automated workflows, it identifies where NUS technologies and capabilities align with companies’ needs, surfacing potential commercial partners and market opportunities globally. It can also surface licensing, co-development and partnership pathways, as well as potential investors and team members. Importantly, each recommendation is supported by underlying evidence, enabling commercialisation managers to do in minutes what has taken weeks of work.

By making opportunity discovery faster and more evidence-based, Nova gives researchers and commercialisation teams an earlier view of where the strongest opportunities lie so that resources are better concentrated. This can inform decisions on IP strategy, governance, partnerships and commercialisation, while helping NUSX move promising discoveries towards market with greater speed and discipline.

“As the global race to commercialise deep tech accelerates, breakthrough research is only the starting point. The real challenge is translation: finding the right opportunities, validating them early, building strong teams and connecting founders with the capital, industry and markets they need to scale,” said Dr Tan Sian Wee, NUS Senior Vice President (Innovation & Enterprise). He continued: “Nova helps us identify where research can create value, while our global outposts help founders act on those opportunities. Together, they enable us to launch global ventures from Singapore that generate lasting returns and improve lives at scale.”

A platform for global impact by 2035

These initiatives support NUSX’s goals through 2035 to:

• Create at least one NUS venture generating more than US$100 million in annual revenue or creating 1,000 jobs;
• Generate US$1 billion in financial returns from NUS ventures; and
• Build ventures that collectively improve the lives of one billion people.

To achieve these goals, NUSX is forging entrepreneurial talent, creating market-ready opportunities in the field and expanding its reach through global outposts. Its next phase places greater emphasis on globalisation, with ventures built for international markets from the outset. This direction aligns with Singapore’s Research, Innovation and Enterprise 2030 plan, which commits S$37 billion over five years to turn scientific strengths into economic and societal impact.

The initiatives announced at the inaugural A5X translate this approach into action. The summit was graced by Guest-of-Honour Mr Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Digital Development and Information. They help researchers identify market opportunities earlier, validate technologies with industry and move promising research towards commercial application. These efforts are primarily anchored in three of NUSX’s four deep tech innovation focus areas: Logic (AI and software), Pulse (healthcare and biotech) and Resilience (dual-use technologies). The fourth, Matter, focuses on physical sciences, materials and semiconductors.

As part of the Resilience track, A5X will also host the inaugural Singapore Defense Tech Hackathon (SDTH) from 25 to 27 September 2026.