BIF Beneficiaries Unveiled
Pauline Dikuelo | Monday October 29, 2018 18:00
The beneficiaries on the grant are amongst them Eco Hub, Kebalepile Technologies and Innovation, Aeronautical Solutions, Pyro Carbon Energy, Smartcom, Intelligent Traffic Management and Motheo Technologies.
The first call for proposals was issued in March this year with 54 applications received. According to the Hub, the first call was benchmarked against regional innovation funds and designed to fund from proof of concept to pre-commercialisation stage, where shortage of funding in innovation is most pronounced.
Grants were accessed through competitive calls advertised to the public to allow submission of proposals. Turnaround times for submissions varied between four to six weeks, from submission of full application to receiving feedback.
The criteria for funding took into consideration several factors including intellectual property, sustainability, and social impact amongst others.
Early this year, government invested P12 million into the establishment of the fund to assist in closing a gap in early stage financing for key projects of national importance. The seed capital would in the current financial year benefit private companies, and organisations registered and operating in Botswana who seek to develop commercially viable innovative products or processes with significant impact in the society.
“The BIF is a special fund whose purpose is to promote innovation through technology product and business development in the private sector in Botswana.”
The Fund targets SMME and medium to large enterprises with scalable innovative projects which have potential for commercialisation in the short to medium term, ranging from 12 to 24 months in the sectors of Mining Technologies, Clean Technologies, Biotechnology (Agriculture and Health Technologies), Information and Communications Technologies, Knowledge intensive business services, Indigenous Knowledge, that are at the prototype phase or beyond.
Early this year, the government appointed the Fund committee, made up of independent members from academia, public and private sector with vast experience in project funding to oversee the process and implementation of the Fund objectives.
The Fund committee will continually consider other call focus and identify funding gaps in order to invest in impactful innovations.
Its grant scheme will follow an annual plan approved for implementation each year with agreed set targets.
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