By NOOR AISHA

NANYANG Technological University (NTU) has launched a $10 million fund to support entrepreneurship and innovation education in the university.

Unveiled yesterday, NTU says the fund will be used to support four key areas of the Master of Science in Technopreneurship and Innovation Programme (MSc TIP).

NTU says the fund will also make resources available for the development of a new paradigm to address the complex issues confronting entrepreneurship and innovation.

The four key areas of the MSc TIP programme which will benefit from the fund are the Chua Thian Poh Distinguished Entrepreneurship Speaker Series, the Chua Thian Poh Overseas Fellowship, the Chua Thian Poh Venture Fund and the Chua Thian Poh Overseas Immersion Award.

The $10 million fund comprises a $5 million gift from visionary business leader Chua Thian Poh, with dollar-for-dollar matching by the Singapore government.

'I hope that this fund would be useful in nurturing an orchard of opportunities to help groom talent for local enterprises,' said Chua Thian Poh, chairman and chief executive officer, Ho Bee Investment.

The 12-month MSc TIP is available in either English or Chinese and participants will be equipped with the skills to start up, plan and secure funding for new ventures.

The programme is conducted in four countries - Singapore, the United States, Malaysia and China.

A recent survey showed that 37 per cent of the TIP graduates have started new ventures.

At the launch of the fund, NTU president Su Guaning also announced an agreement to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Kauffman Foundation to establish NTU as the first Kauffman campus in Asia.

This article was first published in The Business Times on 13, November 2008.