TUM's UnternehmerTUM and Singapore's NUSX Open Reciprocal Outposts

UnternehmerTUM, the innovation arm of the Technical University of Munich, has signed a three-pillar partnership with NUSX, the start-up hub of the National University of Singapore (NUS), opening reciprocal start-up outposts in each city for the first time.

The deal gives NUSX its first Munich base inside Munich Urban Colab, the innovation facility UnternehmerTUM runs with the City of Munich. Singapore's NUS-linked founders will plug into TUM's industry partners, technical infrastructure, and the wider Munich ecosystem. In return, UnternehmerTUM plans to set up shop in Singapore through TUM Venture Labs, the university's deeptech accelerator that spans 12 technology fields.

What does the partnership actually cover?

The agreement runs across three named tracks:

• Reciprocal outposts: NUSX inside Munich Urban Colab, and UnternehmerTUM inside TUM Venture Labs Singapore
• Deeper collaboration between the two universities' venture-capital networks
• Joint talent programs that route selected NUS students into UnternehmerTUM's Startup Launchpad, Digital Product School, and the UnternehmerTUM Incubator

Who's saying what

Helmut Schönenberger, CEO of UnternehmerTUM and Vice President for Entrepreneurship at TUM, framed the pact as a gateway play. "With this partnership, we open a direct gateway between two of the world's most dynamic innovation ecosystems," Schönenberger said.

He pushed on the cross-border logic. "Deep tech ventures need more than one home market to grow — they need access to research, capital and industry partners across continents," Schönenberger said. "By connecting Munich and Singapore through reciprocal outposts, we give founders on both sides exactly that: a direct path from an idea to a global venture. This is a natural next step in our long-standing collaboration with NUS, and we look forward to building it together with NUSX."

On the Singapore side, Dr. Tan Sian Wee, NUS Senior Vice President for Innovation & Enterprise, pointed back to existing ties. "This collaboration with UnternehmerTUM builds on our longstanding ties with the Technical University of Munich as NUSX deepens its global venture-building network," Tan said.

Tan tied the deal to founder outcomes. "Through reciprocal outposts, deeper investment links, and new opportunities for our students and start-ups, we are bringing talent, research and capital closer together," Tan said. "This gives founders greater access to the partners, expertise and markets they need to validate, build and scale deep tech ventures from Singapore."

What are the numbers behind the pact?

UnternehmerTUM and the Venture Labs back more than 1,000 start-up teams a year, the center says. TUM produces more than 100 new companies a year, per the same tally. TUM Venture Labs work across 12 fields of technology, from robotics to medtech. The Financial Times has voted UnternehmerTUM Europe's best start-up hub three times, the center says.

UnternehmerTUM runs its own venture-capital fund for portfolio bets, the center adds, and tailors programs — Startup Launchpad, Digital Product School, and the Incubator — to specific stages of the founding process. TUM calls the surrounding ecosystem one of the strongest deeptech hubs in Europe, anchored by co-labs, corporate partners, and investors. Munich Urban Colab sits at the center of that web, and the new NUSX outpost will be its first permanent Asian tenant.

What's next?

Schönenberger's team will staff the Singapore side through TUM Venture Labs, with the first Singapore-bound Munich founders expected to follow once the outpost opens. The NUS talent pipeline into Startup Launchpad, Digital Product School, and the Incubator opens with the next intake, per both sides. Both principals framed the deal as long-term: the deep-tech ventures emerging now will operate on both continents at launch.