TIA Small, Medium and Micro Enterprise (SMME) SEED Fund

Name of company/organisation:

Technology Innovation Agency

Company/organisation description:

TIA is a national public entity that serves as the key institutional intervention through financial and non-financial support (e.g. Infrastructure support) to bridge the innovation chasm between R&D, technology development and commercialisation from higher education institutions, science councils, public entities, and private sector. TIA’s focus is on technology development; from proof of concept to the pre-commercialisation. To achieve this, TIA established the following funds: the Seed Fund, the Technology Development Fund and the Pre-commercialisation Support Fund.

Funding instrument:

Conditional Grant.

Fund description:

The purpose of the TIA SMME SEED Fund is to assist innovators, researchers and SMMEs to access early stage, risk adjusted conditional funding to develop prototypes; validate their underlying market, technological and commercial assumptions; and be able to demonstrate their holistic value proposition and build an investment case for funders and commercial partners.

The SMME sub-Programme enables and supports technological innovation and entrepreneurship among qualifying SMMEs based in the various Provinces of South Africa. The programme is implemented in collaboration with regional partner agencies with which TIA has entered into Memoranda of Agreement specifically to implement the Programme. TIA provides funding and partner institutions provide non-financial and incubation support to recipients. Qualifying SMMEs applicants work through the relevant Seed Fund Partner based in Province.

Size of investment/funding thresold:

R1m per project maximum funding threshold.

Funded business activities:

·         Prototype development;

·         Sourcing of intellectual property opinions;

·         Detailed primary market research;

·         Conducting field studies to test the assumptions;

·         Support of certification activities;

·         Piloting, and technology scale-up; 

·         Techno-economic evaluation studies;

·         Market testing;

·          Business plan development.

Non-funded business activities:

·         Early stage research projects;

·         Salary contributions;

·         Equipment (except for specialized equipment that is within the budget constraints and required to enable qualifying activities);

·         Working capital;

·         Operational costs not associated with the project.

·         Business operational cost that are not related to the project

·          Equipment and machinery, except for specialised equipment that is within the budget constraints.

Fund recipient eligibility criteria:

·         No basic research

·         Stage of business: pre-revenue, revenue generating

·         Valid tax clearance certificate: Personal (pre-incorporated company) and/ or business

·         Can demonstrate clear customer/ market need and can demonstrate some market potential

·         Because of high risk, would not typically qualify for funding from traditional banks or funding sources

·         Project plan has to align with fundable activities

·          Potential to create competitive, new intellectual property

Fund application instructions:

Current closed call for applications through implementing partners such as onboarded incubators nationwide.