Public Call for the Collaborative Grant Scheme Program

The public call is open until April 1, 2024 at noon

Public Call for the Collaborative Grant Scheme Program

In accordance with the Direct Grant Agreement IPA 2019 “Increased Innovation Capacity and Growth of SMEs”, Tender No. 19SER01/01/51, No. 48-00-00120/2021-28 between the Department for Contracting and Financing of EU Funded Programs, Ministry of Finance and the Innovation Fund 

 

The Innovation Fund

announces

Second Public Call for the COLLABORATIVE GRANT SCHEME PROGRAM

 

The objective of the Collaborative Grant Scheme Program (hereinafter: Program) is to foster industry-driven research by incentivizing private sector companies and public sector R&D organizations to engage in joint R&D projects with the goal of creating new or improved commercially viable products and services, as well as innovative technologies with significant future impact and market potential.

The maximum amount of grant financing which the Innovation Fund (hereinafter: IF) can award per each individual project is EUR 500,000.

The grant financing awarded by the IF can cover:

  • maximum of 70% of total project costs (Approved Project Budget) for projects whose Lead Applicant is a micro or small enterprise and a maximum of 60% of the Total Approved Project budget for projects whose Lead Applicant is a medium-sized enterprise;

Each Applicant must secure their own mandatory co-financing for the project in the following way:

  • minimum of 30% of the total Approved Project Budget for projects whose Lead Applicant is a small or micro-enterprise and 40% for projects whose Lead Applicant is a medium-sized enterprise.

The co-financing by the Applicant is to be secured from other, private sector sources, independently of the IF or any other public sector financing programs.

Duration of projects supported under the Program can be up to 18 months.

The IF will consider financing of projects coming from all fields of science and technology and from any sector of the economy. However, please keep in mind that this Program is aligned with the Smart Specialization Strategy Serbia, which focuses on four main priority domains:

  • Food for future;
  • Information and communication technologies (including specific focus on Artificial Intelligence, as envisaged by the Strategy for the Development of Artificial Intelligence in the Republic of Serbia for the period 2020-2025, available at the link);
  • Machines and production processes of the future;
  • Creative industries.

At least 50% of IF’s available funding for the call for proposals will be allocated for applications in the abovementioned priority domains, subject to availability of good quality projects.

Also, the Innovation Fund will continue, together with the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the European Union as the main partners in supporting innovation, to provide support for projects that contribute to increased social inclusion of persons with disabilities using advanced technologies.

Terms of application:

  • The Applicant is a consortium whose:
    • Lead Applicant must be a private sector micro, small or medium company incorporated in Serbia, in accordance with the current Serbian Company Law in effect, with operating annual revenue of at least EUR 300,000 (for the last fiscal year or for the current year, if applicable) and operates with profit;
    • Lead Co-Applicant must be a public (majority state-owned) Scientific Research Organization registered and accredited in Serbia on the list of accredited scientific and research organizations provided by Ministry of education available at: http://www.mpn.gov.rs/nauka/nio/, relevant to the field of industry and technology identified in the proposed project.

Besides the mandatory Lead Applicant and Lead Co-Applicant described above, the consortium can include other domestic and foreign micro and small private sector companies, domestic and foreign Scientific Research Organizations and Serbian university/faculty innovation centers as Co-Applicants, as long as their engagement is justified by the development needs of the Project proposal. The consortium cannot have more than five (5) members.

The Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Management and key personnel credentials and ability of the consortium to deliver;
  • Quality and collaborative potential of the consortium members;
  • Innovative technology, product or service; clear IP position and potential;
  • Clear market need, competitive (preferably global or EU) position and commercialization potential;
  • Level of co-financing, use of funds and adequacy of the project budget;
  • Well-developed organizational design and project management system (including clear roles, responsibilities, authorities and accountabilities (R2A2s) for all consortia members and well-designed stage gate review process and risk management strategy).

Only Applications excelling in all the above-mentioned criteria will be recommended for financing. Additional details regarding the evaluation process can be found in the Review Guidelines document, available at the link.

Application documentation

In order for any Application to be evaluated, it needs to be submitted as a complete, structured documentation package within the given submission deadline electronically through the Innovation Fund’s portal. A complete set of necessary Application documentation can be found on the Innovation Fund’s website - Documentation.

Applicants are obligated to use predefined document templates provided on the IF web page.

In order to apply for financing Applicants are required to submit the following documentation:

  • Lead Applicant Statement;
  • Business Plan;
  • Project Budget;
  • Project presentation*;
  • Financial Forecast (Projected income statements for the next 5 years);
  • Environmental Screening Questionnaire (ESQ);
  • CVs of the key personnel engaged in the project (maximum 5, free format, in English);
  • Lead Applicant’s financial statements for the last applicable business year

Note: Application documentation must be submitted in the exact same visual and structural format and style as it is provided on the IF website. Any attempt to modify the Application documentation by unlocking and/or altering the formulas or text will result in the Application being disqualified from further evaluation. Applicants are allowed to use style formatting options within the predefined text boxes in the business plan.

* Project presentation in the PowerPoint format is the only exception, and needs to be submitted based on the instructions provided in the template itself.

Due to the international two-phase evaluation process,  submitted Application documentation must be in English, except in situations where this is not applicable (applicant statement and financial statements).

It is possible to submit only one (1) Application per Public Call.

The deadline for Application submission is April 1st, 2024 by 12:00pm.

Incomplete Applications, as well as Applications that are not submitted until the submission deadline will not be considered.

Collaborative Grant Scheme Program Grant Manual which details the conditions of the Collaborative Grant Scheme Program and set of the required documents are available at the link.

State aid regulation is applied to the financing received by the Awardee from the IF through the Program in accordance with the Innovation Fund’s Rulebook on applying state aid rules.

Please use the following link to APPLY.

Contact: cgs@inovacionifond.rs