Singapore's NUSX Expands to Munich and Shanghai, Launches AI Platform Nova

Jan de Vries · 2026-09-25

NUS Enterprise, the entrepreneurial arm of the National University of Singapore (NUS), has just announced its first European outpost in Munich. It's a big move, done in partnership with UnternehmerTUM, and it expands NUS's global network beyond Silicon Valley. They're also setting up a new outpost in Shanghai and launching 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. ### 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 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. > "Nova is a game-changer for research commercialisation. It's like having a super-smart assistant that never sleeps, helping to bridge the gap between lab and market." With these moves, NUSX is not just expanding its footprint but also redefining how academic research can be transformed into real-world impact.