NBIF Launches $500,000 Fund To Help Researchers Get Their Projects To Market
FREDERICTON – The New Brunswick Innovation Fund (NBIF) is launching a $500,000 fund aimed at closing the gap in the commercialization process of innovative projects by post-secondary researchers.
The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is funding the pilot of the Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ECSF), which will contribute up to $50,000 to as many as 10 applied research projects. It aims to help turn those projects into startups.
Laura Richard, NBIF’s director of research, says while NBIF already supports applied research, and its venture capital arm supports startups, this funding will target the gap in between.
“Unfortunately, our applied research funding stops before anyone will be at the stage where they’re ready for venture capital. And that’s not just an NBIF program, that’s more about the design of research funding globally. There’s a gap before you’re really ready to commercialize and launch a company, so that’s where this program steps in,” she said.
Although some researchers have been able to bridge that funding, not all have the resources to do so.
“It’s difficult, and we see far more often that researchers drop off and just say ‘no, I don’t have the back pocket money or another source to cover this, so I’m going to abandon what could be a potentially very lucrative company,” she said.
One of the areas Richard has seen this happened is in innovations related to pharmaceutical and biological products. They usually required a lot of money to develop, and a lot of specialized help.
“They’re the kind that a researcher will be hard pressed to pursue on their own. So some of those we haven’t been able to support the way we would have liked to,” Richard said. “The ones that were generally more able to help are ones that are IT-related, as usually the development costs are a bit easier, and the timescale is shorter.”
But the ECSF won’t focus on just those sectors, she said.
The funding will be made available for research projects from any sector that’s gotten to prototyping or proof-of-concept, or close to that.
Researchers will be able to use the ESCF to pay for technology validation, filing a patent, market analysis, taking part in conferences, and speaking with potential clients, among other things. They have one year to use the funding.
NBIF staff will help them prioritize, mentor them, and help them with business development.
NBIF will work with accelerators and other service providers in the region, like Springboard Atlantic, to fulfill the specific needs of the researchers.
While existing accelerators provide training and information, and possibly some funding, Richard said the ECSF is more specialized program for researchers.
“The research community is quite specialized in terms of their knowledge and generally already have high time demand because they’re also professors or post docs or graduate students on the side. So an accelerator might not be the right fit, in which case we’re going to work with them to find something that does fit their needs and help them bring that technology to market,” she said.
Richard said the model of the fund is borrowed from a similar program run by Innovacorp in Nova Scotia since 2005. Already a close partner of NBIF, it’s now also helping NBIF build its ESCF.
“Where we’re going forward with now is that we’re going to run this fund together. We’re committed to opening our rounds at the same time, collecting proposals together and even doing the evaluation together, too, so that we can each learn from each other and further develop our own offerings,” Richard said.
The ESCF will allow NBIF to provide a more holistic funding, from the applied research stage all the way through to commercialization. It also allows for the research arm and the venture capital arm to work closely as one unit, said Richard.
“A fund like this requires knowledge, both of the research world and the startup world. So for the first time, we’re really coming together to deliver. This is one unit and we’re really doubling down both with our research experience and with our VC experience,” she said.
Applications will be called for three funding rounds – one in January 2021, one in Fall 2021, and another one in January 2022.
Inda Intiar is a reporter for Huddle. Send her story suggestions: [email protected]