Local and overseas teams will battle it out at a Singapore Management University (SMU) biennial contest to address challenges in areas such as health and services.

SMU announced 31 finalists yesterday for the 9th Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition, organised by SMU's Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship and supported by Wilmar International.

There were a record 550 submissions from more than 300 universities in 68 countries, compared with 184 entries from 140 universities in the previous edition.

Mr Hau Koh Foo, director of the institute, said the competition is a "major effort... to bring together global youth entrepreneurs and thought leaders to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing mankind".

This year's theme is "smart city"; proposals should address the opportunities and challenges a smart city faces in the areas of health, living, mobility and services.

Finalists include Marine Nexus under SMU, which is presenting its one-stop maritime online platform; the Singapore University of Technology and Design's OMNi and its smart motorcycle helmet, and Nanyang Technological University's Aevice Health, which developed a wearable medical device to help diagnose asthma.

The grand finals and awards ceremony dinner will be held on Sept 14.

The winner of each category will take home $25,000.

An overall winner will take home the grand prize of $100,000.

Mr Julien Mialaret, operating partner of Idinvest Partners and one of the judges for the living category said: "Some of the submissions that I have evaluated are truly promising and among the best smart city innovations that I have (seen) at this early stage."