The journey to successful ventures starts in Singapore. Here’s why.

Silicon Valley gets all the attention, but one of the real hotbeds of venture creation lies around 13,000km away in a tiny island state in Southeast Asia: Singapore.

The country leads the world in connectedness, according to the 2019 Global Start-up Ecosystem Report, with a clear culture of meaningful global and local relationships among founders, inventors, and experts. It’s a magnet for talent across the globe, with a high number and growth of software start-ups, as well as overall start-up success. From Shopee to Grab to FinAccel Pte, this is one conducive gateway for start-ups to develop, test-bed solutions and expand into the region.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, there is nowhere better to capitalise on this than at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

With its Master of Science (MSc) in Venture Creation, students will be closely coached on how to bring their ideas into new ventures with success. Through a combination of experiential learning and the academic rigour of Asia’s top university, students will receive mentorship in business development, access to NUS technologies, and opportunities to network for market access.

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There is ample evidence as to why this is no hot talk. Two words would suffice to underscore why this MSc is truly the most fitting graduate degree for ambitious entrepreneurs today: NUS Enterprise.

The story of the entrepreneurial arm of NUS stretches back more than two decades. Founded in 1988 as the Centre for Management of Innovation and Technopreneurship, it has nurtured entrepreneurial learning and venture creation among the NUS community. Its flagship programmes include the renowned NUS Overseas Colleges and the global BLOCK71 network. Today, it’s a force in the campus and country, promoting active industry partnerships, spearheading entrepreneurial education and catalysing outreach.

So far, it’s been an impressive series of milestones for the most influential force in Singapore’s start-up ecosystem. NUS Enterprise has developed and nurtured more than 4,000 students and entrepreneurs from all over the world; built a community of more than 1,000 start-ups; organised and managed over 500 entrepreneurship-related events programmes and initiatives annually; partnered with more than 200 corporates to co-innovate solutions; and connected with over 15 entrepreneurial and technological hotspots around the world.

Among the stories of success and inspiration to emerge from this are Carousell, ShopBack, Zimplistic and Zopim.

It’s this deep and varied expertise that the MSc in Venture Creation taps into.

Supplementing this is a curriculum that helps students turn ideas into the most celebrated brands, ideas and products of tomorrow.

Core modules make up 28 modular credits, divided into three parts: foundation in venture creation (eight modular credits), start-up internship (eight modular credits) and acceleration of venture creation (12 modular credits).

For elective modules, students will gain exposure in some of the biggest global opportunities and challenges today: Industry 4.0, digital supply chain, cybersecurity, biotech, medtech and fintech. Whether it’s to advance one’s knowledge or to sharpen skills in these areas, students can access up to six NUS academic departments in this multidisciplinary Master’s: School of Computing, Business School, Faculty of Science, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering and School of Continuing and Lifelong Education.

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But modules alone do not make an effective entrepreneurial education. In a world striving to meet the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals and in anticipation of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, more needs to be done to empower the next wave of entrepreneurs and their enablers.

According to the World Economic Forum, the best practices from Innovative programmes around the world highlight the importance of an education that goes beyond skills:

“At the centre is the individual mind-set – the personal psychological and transformative journey an individual must travel to form the conviction to pursue an entrepreneurial life path. The mind-set needs to be actualized through skills and practices simulated in a controlled environment that provides the budding entrepreneur with an immersive learning experience,” according to the report titled, Beyond Borders: Digitizing Entrepreneurship for Impact.

“Finally, new entrepreneurs need an ecosystem that supports their ongoing growth, upskilling and access to the tools and resources they need to develop their ventures.”

The NUS MSc in Venture Creation provides all the above and more through its practical learning opportunities. Taking place through a one-year duration, this programme combines experiential learning with the academic coursework of NUS. This includes a two-week programme to learn about entrepreneurship ecosystems in Singapore and Southeast Asia region and to build connections with peers globally; a start-up internship experience to work alongside and learn from the founders; and a lean start-up practicum to gain access to NUS’ IP and technologies and learn hands-on approach to accelerate ideas into new ventures. The NUS MSc in Venture Creation programme will bring NUS’ educational offerings to the next level, transforming mind-sets while offering a deliberate start-up creation programme for entrepreneurially-inclined students from around the region.

From an unbeatable location to action learning and the infectious energy of NUS Enterprise, NUS’ MSc in Venture Creation has all the critical elements to turn aspiring entrepreneurs into the success they hope to be.

Application for the August 2020 intake for the NUS’ MSc in Venture Creation is now open.

Visit here for more information on the Master of Science (MSc) in Venture Creation: https://scale.nus.edu.sg/programmes/graduate/msc-venture-creation

For enquiries on the NUS’ MSc in Venture Creation, kindly send your email to: pgc@nus.edu.sg

Other useful links:

NUS Enterprise:

https://enterprise.nus.edu.sg/

NUS Overseas Colleges:

https://enterprise.nus.edu.sg/education-programmes/nus-overseas-colleges/

BLOCK71:

https://singapore.block71.co/

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