Funds & Expertise for R&D
INNOVATION
VOUCHER
INITIATIVE
INNOVATION
PARTNERSHIP
PROGRAMME
IRDG Event - Galway
21 September 2012
Declan McGee
Innovation Vouchers Initiative
• Builds Links between Small Businesses and Knowledge
Providers
• The €5,000 Innovation Voucher can be exchanged for
Advice and Expertise from the Knowledge Providers
• Typical uses include:
New Product Design / Development
New or Improved Production Process
New Business Model Development
New Service Delivery / Customer interface
Company Eligibility
• All Small Enterprise
(Less than 50 Employees, Turnover/Balance Sheet < €10m)
• Restricted to Registered Limited Companies
• Two 100% Funded Vouchers per Company
• One 50-50 Co-Funded Voucher per Company
Company Eligibility
• All Small Enterprise
(Less than 50 Employees, Turnover/Balance Sheet < €10m)
• Restricted to Registered Limited Companies
• Two 100% Funded Vouchers per Company
(3 calls per year – current call closes on 30th September)
• One 50-50 Co-Funded Voucher per Company
(applications accepted anytime)
2012 Statistics
• 450 vouchers awarded
• 346 redeemed
County
Total
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008 2007
Galway
247
37
53
57
43
26
31
Leitrim
49
9
4
12
8
11
5
Mayo
79
8
19
19
15
6
12
Roscommon
50
8
15
10
3
8
6
Sligo
74
4
19
17
15
10
9
More information
• Michael Dolan (mike.dolan@enterprise-ireland.com)
• Mary Cahill (mary.cahill@enterprise-ireland.com)
www.innovationvouchers.ie
WHO USES THE
WHO?
PROGRAMME?
PROGRAMME
OVERVIEW
PROGRAMME
PERFORMANCE
Who uses this Programme?
A company has identified a commercial
opportunity for an innovative product,
process or service that they need to develop.
GAP
That company does not have the relevant
resources in terms of skills, experience,
headcount or revenue to manage the R&D
work alone.
The Innovation Partnership Programme supports
the company through funding towards the cost of
accessing top Irish Academic Institutes to do R&D
work relevant to the company.
A Company based in Ireland . . .
…. that has challenges to meet, problems to solve or is targeting new or
improved products, processes, services, knowledge or know-how…
…can access expertise from research
teams in institutes across Ireland…
Programme Overview
Open to all agency affiliated Irish-based Companies
Develop new, novel or innovative products, processes & services
50+ proposals funded last year
Average project value is €130K rising to €250K and higher
Enterprise Ireland can provide up to 80% of the cost of the research
Innovation Partnership Programme Evaluation
71% of participant companies surveyed said that
their objectives were largely or fully achieved
2/3 of clients transformed their marketing
plans after completing their projects
96% of respondents would be willing to
recommend the Programme to other businesses
Each €1 of funding invested by EI delivered
€7.71 Net Turnover Impact at company side *
*Independent Evaluation by Frontline Consultants (UK)
*External Impact Evaluation (2011)
Small
Company
Medium
Company
Large
Company
Industrial
Collaborative
80%
75%
65%
Experimental
Collaborative
60%
50%
40%
Type of Research
Every company partner will be expected to pay 20% of the project costs in cash
Small
Medium
1–50
employees
50–249
employees
Greater than
Large
250
employees
Annual Turnover
and/or Balance Sheet
Not exceeding
€10M
Annual Turnover
Not exceeding
€50M
Balance Sheet
Not exceeding
€43M
Annual Turnover
Greater then
€43M
If a company is part of a group the employee, turnover, annual balance
sheet and ownership limits apply to the group.
Innovation Partnership Process
Outline
Proposal
Commercial Logic
Programme Remit
Good Academic
Match
Full
Proposal
DA
Commercial Assessment
IPP Team
Programme Remit
Technical Assessor
Technical Assessment
IRCC
Innovation
Feasibility
Partnership
Study Facility
Process
Full
Proposal
Feasibility
Study
100% EI Funded
Technically Feasible
€9,000
Clustered Projects
2 weeks to 6 months
De-Risk Tasks
Fast Approval
Map IP Landscape
Not a ‘Bigger Voucher’!
Agency Approval Required
More information
Declan McGee
T: 01 7272668
M: 087 9809883
E: declan.mcgee@enterprise-ireland.com
Cormac Cantwell
T: 7272517
E: cormac.cantwell@enterprise-ireland.com
Web:
www.enterprise-ireland.com/ipp
Video
Enterprise Ireland recommends that the college
own the foreground IP with appropriate
licensing rights assigned to the other partner.
However, Joint Ownership of the Foreground IP by
the company and college will be accepted if
several conditions are met:
i. The company must not be Early Stage, Start Up,
pre-HPSU or HPSU.
ii. The company must have inputted a pro-rata
amount of Background IP into the creation of the
new Foreground IP as the academic
partner.