Nucleate Singapore Pulse

In part two of this episode, Dr. Elia Stupka explains why Angelini Ventures established a Singapore office: high-conviction “boots on the ground” in a rapidly transforming Asia, Singapore’s role as a multilingual, legally strong APAC base, and a maturing local ecosystem with A*STAR science and clinical excellence. He describes EspressoLab, created with Enterprise Singapore as a hands-on, transparent program that helps earlier-stage startups avoid common Series A mistakes, match with global advisors via a bespoke “barista” model, and use of an AI augmented diligence. Stupka outlines Singapore biotech challenges, especially the lack of industry-experienced CMOs and limited talent pool, and suggests Singapore should combine local and global innovation as a hub. He discusses China’s surge in licensing deals and the likely rise of global Chinese pharmas, argues healthcare will follow “faster, better, cheaper” global dynamics with regulators racing toward higher standards, and shares founder traits he values, plus Angelini Ventures’ focus across biotech, medtech, and digital health.Host: Shamieraah JamalEditor: Dillon ChewPodcast Team: Chi Dam, Alefiya Dohadwala, Chelsia Goh

In this episode, Dr. Elia Stupka, Managing Director of Angelini Ventures, traces his path from early computational biology to venture capital. He describes pioneering days on the Human Genome Project in Cambridge, the startup-like pace of building genome annotation tools and infrastructure, and helping launch Singapore’s fugu genome project with Sydney Brenner. He also contrasts academia’s grant-and-paper incentives with industry’s emphasis on deep validation, then explains how open innovation work at Boehringer Ingelheim and advising startups led him into investing. He outlines Angelini Ventures’ global, evergreen structure, its approach to evaluating biotech/medtech/digital health, his high-risk/high-reward style, and the hands-on post-investment work that drives outcomes, including why the firm built a presence in Singapore and Asia.Host: Shamieraah JamalEditor: Dillon ChewPodcast Team: Chi Dam, Alefiya Dohadwala, Chelsia Goh

Jie Sun, Co-founder and CEO of ChemT Biotechnology, joins the show to discuss how artificial intelligence, virtual cell models, and small-molecule interventions could reshape biologics manufacturing. Drawing on a career spanning healthcare consulting, pharmaceutical project management, regulated healthcare AI, and entrepreneurship, Jie shares how her experience across Southeast Asia and the United States shaped her approach to identifying valuable problems and building globally relevant companies.In this episode, Jie explains why ChemT Biotechnology chose biomanufacturing as the focus for its virtual cell platform. Rather than applying AI primarily to develop drugs for patients, the company designs what Jie calls “cellular drugs,” small molecules intended to modulate the behaviour of manufacturing cells. The approach combines gene-target identification, prediction of cell-state and phenotypic changes, and AI-assisted generation and filtering of small-molecule structures. Jie also discusses why wet-lab validation remains the ultimate test for AI-driven biotechnology. She argues that AI models alone are becoming increasingly commoditised, while defensibility comes from proprietary data, deep manufacturing context, and the ability to translate technology into a product that solves a customer’s problem faster, more cheaply, or more effectively. Host: Tan Mei JiaEditors: Dillon Chew, Chi Dam01:25 About Jie Sun and her background08:05 First startup experience 15:25 The ChemT Biotech Story18:10 Role of AI in ChemT 23:25 More on their product25:36 Funding and expansion32:33 On Female founders 37:44 Advice to aspiring founders

Dr. Damien Keogh, Founder and CEO of BluMaiden Biosciences, joins the show to discuss how artificial intelligence, computational biology, and entrepreneurship are transforming drug discovery. Drawing on a career that spans molecular microbiology, academia, venture capital, and biotech company building, Damien shares his journey from studying microbial biology in Ireland to founding a Singapore-based biotech company developing novel therapeutics from the human microbiome.In this episode, Damien explores how his experiences across research, investing, and startup leadership shaped the development of BluMaiden’s AI-driven drug discovery platform. He explains why successful biotech ventures require more than great science, highlighting the importance of multidisciplinary teams, founder adaptability, strategic execution, and a clear path to commercial value.He also provides an inside look at BluMaiden’s approach to discovering small-molecule therapeutics, including how the company integrates microbiome, clinical, and multi-omics datasets to identify new drug targets and candidates. Damien discusses where AI is already creating value in drug discovery, where human expertise remains indispensable, and why validation continues to be the defining challenge for computational approaches.Along the way, the conversation covers venture creation versus academic spinouts, fundraising and company building in Singapore, the evolving biotech investment landscape, and emerging technologies such as agentic AI, laboratory automation, and quantum computing. Damien also shares practical insights for founders, researchers, and investors on evaluating opportunities, building resilient companies, and turning scientific innovation into meaningful patient impact.Host: Shamieraah JamalEditors: Shamieraah Jamal, Chi Dam, Dillon Chew02:00 Meet Damien Keogh07:05 VC and what makes startups win09:38 Founding BluMaiden19:20 Building an AI Moat25:30 Validation Roadmap to Licensing 30:55 Biotech Collaboration Verticals33:10 Hype Versus Reality44:58 The direction ahead51:57 Ecosystem Support and Talent

Dr. Katherine Wang, Deputy Director of the Biomedical Research Council and lead of the Singapore Therapeutics Development Review (STDR), joins the show to unpack what it really takes to move a scientific discovery from the lab bench to a viable biotech company. Drawing on a career that spans a PhD at NYU, tech transfer, program building at Duke-NUS, and now national drug-discovery strategy at A*STAR, Katherine explains why Singapore's researchers excel at science but stumble at commercialization. She also delves into what STDR is doing about it through mentorship, bootcamps, and new schemes that pair scientists with serial entrepreneurs. Along the way she compares the US, China, and Singapore ecosystems, shares what she looks for when funding early-stage projects, and offers candid advice for any scientist curious about a career beyond the PI track. It's a practical, clear-eyed conversation about turning good science into products that reach patients. In this episode, Katherine discusses how researchers can translate scientific discoveries into commercially viable therapeutics and why strong science alone is not enough to build a successful biotech company. She explains the importance of defining unmet medical needs, developing a clear target product profile, understanding the competitive landscape, prioritizing value-driving experiments, and building multidisciplinary teams with complementary scientific and business expertise. Katherine also shares perspectives on the differences between the biotechnology ecosystems in Singapore, the United States, China, and Europe; the role of public funding and private-sector partnerships; and how initiatives under RIE2030 may shape Singapore’s biomedical research and innovation landscape.Host: Shamieraah JamalEditors: Shamieraah Jamal, Chi Dam, Dillon ChewTimestamp00:00 Introduction to Dr. Katherine Wang 01:17 From Research to Research Leadership 03:13 Comparing the US, Singapore and China Biotech Ecosystems 06:20 Building a Career Across Strategy and Operations 10:10 What Is the Singapore Therapeutics Development Review? 17:59 Global Models for Translational Funding 23:22 Introducing the Venture Lead Scheme 27:15 Bridging the Commercialisation Skills Gap 29:00 New STDR Initiatives under RIE2030 33:26 The Future of Singapore’s Biotech Ecosystem 35:01 Training the Next Generation for Commercialization 37:40 Current Gaps in Singapore’s Biotech Ecosystem