What is the Baby Shark Fund?

Supporting Innovation at Every Level

Innovation lies at the crossroads of novelty and usefulness. Innovation is around us and in everything we do.

The Baby Shark Fund wants you to take these new ideas forward, deploy them in real-world situations, and test your creativity in tackling old problems with new solutions.

We provide the runway and support to give these ideas a life beyond your imagination.

What ideas do we support?

Big or small, we are looking for creative new ways to solve everyday problems. Regardless of where your ideas come from, we want to hear them.

Ground-up initiatives are ideas that stem from observations of your daily lives. They could be developed by observing how people face the same challenges every day and yet have not developed a solution to tackle them.

They can be independent of your curriculum.

Keen to launch a start-up? SUTD VIE programmes have the right workshops and tools for your first step.

After each programme, the final presentation will be a pitching platform where you can pitch for the Baby Shark Fund to take your project further.

Created a new product during your classes that is waiting to see the world? The Baby Shark Fund supports the project you have developed to help extend the runway and time you need to work toward a market-ready solution.

Need some inspiration for ideas? Check out our problem statement bank.

What are we looking for?

Undecided if the solution you have developed meets the funding criteria? All teams will be accessed based on the following two guiding principles:

Extent of Innovation

How well does the project communicate its innovation?
What is the differentiation from existing solutions in the market?
Who/What are some of the competing solutions?

Level of Impact

How much impact can the solution create in either industry, process, social or environmental challenges?
How will the solution be delivered to the intended users?

You will pitch your solution to a panel to determine if you can communicate the extent of innovation and impact and your ability to bring the solution to your intended use.

Meet our Baby Shark Student Innovators

Students from our various programmes have embarked on their microinnovation journey. Here are some examples of how they do it.

How do we support you?

Successful applicants will receive:

S$6,000 grant money over two tranches to be completed within 6 months from the start of the award.
Access to venture partners for check-ins, mentorship, and support throughout the 6-month process.
Accelerated consideration for SUTD VIE programmes and grants.
Accelerated support to help deploy your ideas with corporate partners in Singapore and beyond.

How to apply?

Eligibility

Apply as a team of 2 to 5, with at least 2 members who are current SUTD undergraduate or master students during the period that you are pitching in
At least 2 members of the team should have not participated in 3 or more pitches before

Pitch Your Projects

Refer to schedule on the Entrepreneurship page.
Developed an exciting new concept through one of VIE's programmes? Each VIE programme is now equipped with a pitching platform that allows you to pitch for support.

Our programmes include:

Create4Good Innovation Fund
Create4Good Hackathon
ARISE Part II and Part III
LaunchSomething

Happening every February, July and October.
This platform is great for teams with ground-up initiatives and academic projects to put forth your projects for further support.

Follow the latest update on application period: www.linktr.ee/babysharkfund.

Upcoming Pitch

Join the next Open Pitching Platform on 15 February 2025, or follow our directory for the latest activities on Baby Shark Fund!