Financing Innovation
Nov 22, 2014
Financing Innovation
Outline• Innovation and Export• New Product Success• Programs in Saskatchewan• Tying it all together
Countries that Innovate Export• Direct correlation with metrics of innovation
and a country’s exports• Why?– Numbers game
Canadian Research Investment• Ranks high on the world stage– $26.9B in 2008 on Natural Sciences and
Engineering– GERD/GDP in 2006 is 1.94 for Canada, 2.62 in the
US and 1.76 in the EU
Research Institutions• University of Saskatchewan– Ag-bio and oilseed process engineering– iPhone University
• University of Regina– CO2 Capture and Storage– Grey-water Recycling
Canadian Industry Lags
http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/17/33/41558999.pdf
Successful New Products• Solve real market problems– The best people to define these problems are the
people in the field, speaking to customers– Exporters can take those products to market– The cheapest way to create new products is to
leverage the infrastructure that’s already in place
Non-Dilutive Financing• Does not dilute your equity stake in your
company
• “Leveraged investment”
Programs• Grants• Internships• Investment Tax Credits
Grants• Communities of Tomorrow– $15K - $150K late-stage research on municipal
infrastructure
Grants• NRC-IRAP– Grants to firms for up to 75% of cost of market
assessment, management advisory service, or project costs
– YEP, up to $30K to hire recent graduates
Grants• NSERC– One of the largest providers of grant funding to
researchers at universities and colleges.– Also has programs that can be utilized by industry
when collaborating with eligible institutions
Internships• MITACS ACCELERATE – Hiring a graduate student or post doctorate fellow
for a minimum 4 month term to work in your company to solve a defined problem.
– $7500 is paid by firm for each 4 month period
Internships• WestLink Innovation Network– 8 month term with a technically skilled business
development professional
Investment Tax Credits• SRED Credits– For eligible research expenses, a firm can recoup
up to 73.8% of labour expense and up to 44.8% of materials, subcontractors, and capital
How can you benefit?• A logistics problem that a math student can solve in
4 months• A business development staff member to assist in
entry to new markets• Find your next product as your current product
enters the late stages of its product cycle• Prove your conceptualized next product