The Innovation Activity Fund announces a Public Call for the MATCHING GRANTS PROGRAM

Program Objectives: The innovation co-financing program aims to encourage existing and profitable micro, small and medium-sized innovative companies in the Republic of Serbia to engage in the development and commercialization of technological innovations in the form of new and improved products, services, technologies and technological processes, in order to create new market value, provide high-paying jobs, increase revenue and export growth and improve Serbia's competitiveness.

The maximum amount of financing that the Fund for Innovation Activity (hereinafter: the Fund) can allocate per individual project is 500,000 euros.

Financing allocated by the Fund can cover:

• Maximum 70% of total project costs (Approved Project Budget) for micro and small businesses and a maximum 60% of the total approved project budget for medium-sized enterprises.

Each Applicant must provide mandatory co-financing for the project as follows:

• Minimum 30% of the total Approved Project Budget for micro and small enterprises and 40% for medium-sized enterprises.

Co-financing by the Applicant must come from other, private sources, independent of Fund or any other public program financing.

The duration of the project within the Innovation Co-financing Program can be a maximum of 18 months.

"Royalty payments" are the obligation of the grant beneficiary in the event of a successful outcome of the financed project (if the project results in realized income) and imply an annual payment to the Fund of 5% of the total annual income generated by the sale of new technology/product/service (15% if it is a matter of licensing technology/product/service to a third party) within 5 years from the end of the project, or up to a maximum of 120% of the total grant awarded, whichever comes first. The innovation activity fund bears the risk together with the grantee in case of unsuccessful development of the product/service/technology, so in that case no "royalty payments" are required.

The fund will consider financing projects from all fields of science and technology and from any industrial sector. However, this program is aligned with the Smart Specialization Strategy in Serbia, which focuses on four priority domains:

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

At least 50% of the available funds for this public call will be allocated to applications from the above priority domain, if enough quality projects are available.

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

Conditions for participation in the Innovation Co-financing Program

• The Applicant is a legal entity established in accordance with the current Law on companies, registered in the Agency for Business Registers of the Republic of Serbia (APR), and located in Serbia;

• The applicant is a majority private micro, small or medium-sized enterprise, established in Serbia in accordance with the current Accounting Law, excluding newly established legal entities as defined in accordance with this law;
• The applicant has generated business income of at least EUR 300,000 in the previous or current business year and must be profitable.

Applications will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Qualifications of management and key personnel and the company's ability to realize the project;
• Innovative technology, product or service; clearly defined and undisputed intellectual property rights and their potential;
• Clear market demand, competitive position (preferably on the world market) and potential for commercialization;
• Potential for generating income within two to three (2-3) years after the project;
• Feasible methodology and ability to implement;
• Usage of funds and adequacy of project budget;
• Technology and Implementation Risk Management.

Only Applications that meet all the above criteria and achieve exceptional results in them will be proposed for funding. Additional details regarding the evaluation process can be found in the Project Evaluation Guidelines ("Review Guidelines"), available at link.

Required application documentation

In order for the application to be considered, it must be submitted as a complete, structured package of documents within the given time limit for submitting applications in electronic form through the Fund's internet portal. The complete set of necessary documentation is available on the website of the Fund for Innovation Activities: Documentation - June 2023.

Applicants are obliged to use the predefined forms of application documents provided by the Fund for Innovation Activities.

Each the registered project will automatically receive a predefined Applicant Statement, which the Applicant is obliged to read and agree with.

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

• Statement of the Applicant;
• Business plan;
• Project budget;
• Project presentation*;
• Financial forecasts (Expected revenues for the next 5 years).
• Environmental Screening Questionnaire (ESQ);
• Biographies of the key members of the project team engaged in the project (maximum 5, in free form, in English);
• Financial statements for the previous business year, where applicable.

Note: The Application documentation must be submitted in an identical visual and structural format and style as it is on the Fund's website. Any attempt to modify the Application documentation by unlocking and/or changing formulas or text will result in disqualification of the Application from further evaluation. Applicants can use style formatting options within the predefined text fields in the business plan.

*The PowerPoint presentation form is the only exception, and should be submitted in accordance with the instructions indicated in the form itself.

Due to the international two-stage project proposal evaluation process, the submitted project proposal documentation must be in English, except in situations where this is not applicable (applicant's statement and financial reports).

It is possible to submit only one (1) Application within this public call regardless of the type of Program.

The deadline for submitting applications is September 15 2023. until 12:00 p.m.

Incomplete Applications, as well as Applications not submitted by the deadline for submission of applications, will not be considered.

Please use the following link to apply: APPLICATION

Contact: matching.grants@inovacionifond.rs