Innovation 2.0 | SMART| Singapore

Innovation 2.0 Grant Program

Innovation Centre

The Innovation 2.0 grant program is our flagship program that will enable a qualified team of scientists and researchers to launch successful ventures, with funding, training, and intense mentoring provided across three gated grant phases. The grant can provide up to $800K in funding over the three gated phases:

Venture Exploration Workshop (Phase I)

Venture Design Funding (Phase II)

Venture Execution Funding (Phase III)

16 weeks of intense training and mentoring

$300K, 12-18 months

$500K, 12-18 months

The SMART Innovation Centre (SMART IC) will conduct a grant call annually and can enroll up to 10 projects in the Venture Exploration Workshop. It can then issue up to 5 Venture Design Grants per year ($300K each) and up to 3 Venture Execution Grants per year ($500K each).

Innovation Grant 2.0 is a gated 3 phase program to prepare a team of scientist-entrepreneurs to launch a successful venture, with funding and training, and intense mentoring provided across all three phases. SMART Innovation Grant 2.0 conducts a series of workshops for scientists and researchers in Singapore passionate about growing new ventures around their disruptive technology to support each phase of the grant.

As in all training programs, you need to progressively advance in skills and demonstrate your value proposition from both the technical, market and implementation perspectives. SMART Innovation Grant 2.0 will guide you through this process from lab idea to fundable, executable new venture. You will be mentored one-on-one and provided training, oversight, and critical review by the SMART Directors and Advisory Board. The following chart is a summary:

Phase I Venture Exploration
Workshop

Phase II Venture Design Funding

Phase III Venture Execution
Funding

$0 (16 weeks).
Intense training and mentoring.
Hypothesis testing.
Weed out weak teams and projects.
Opportunity Matrix.
Hypothesis development.

$300K 12-18 months.
Develop commercial POC.
Follow TPP and roadmap in product development.
Product/market fit confirmation.
TPP (Target Product Profile).

$500K (12-18 months).
Continue developing POC.
Transition team to venture funding (introduction to venture capital network).
Execution skills, mentor-driven.
Business model development.

Market, technology, and implementation discovery.
Product/market fit.
Explore TPP.

Development Roadmap, mentor-driven.
Action Plan.
Regulatory Pathway

Financials (P/L)
Team building
Venture Formation
Business plan preparation
Pitch deck
Fundraising

Description of Innovation 2.0 3 phases

Innovation 2.0 has 3 phases of grants: Venture Exploration, Venture Design and Venture Execution. Innovation 2.0 provides training and mentoring to support each phase. These 3 phases are described below:

Phase I (Venture Exploration Workshop):

If your application is accepted, you and a cohort of up to 10 other teams will enter an introductory training workshop. You will be mentored as a team and participate in peer learning with the other groups. The goal will be to challenge and fine-tune your business proposition and technology development roadmap. The mentoring syllabus will include:

Hypothesis Development
Market, Technology, and Implementation Discovery
Product/Market Fit
Explore TPP (Target Product Profile)

During the Venture Exploration phase, you will not receive funding, but the 15 hours of classroom teaching and 30 hours of mentoring over 16 weeks will be free.

The Venture Exploration Phase will provide training in hypothesis development, market identification, technology definition, implementation discovery, product/market fit evaluation, and exploration of the target product profile (TPP). The intended outcome is a proposal for the Venture Design Phase (II) funding and a pitch deck for presentation to the SMART IC Advisory Board. The workshop will contain several master classes for peer learning, mentoring through a one-on-one team mentor with relevant commercial

The Venture Exploration Workshop will enable us to identify teams with disruptive technology and a passion for venture building. Phase II (Venture Design Funding) and Phase III (Venture Execution Funding) will focus on venture building for selected teams.

Phase I Venture Exploration Workshop is mandatory to qualify for Phase II Venture Design Funding and Phase III Venture Execution Funding.

Acceptance into the Phase I program does not guarantee an award for Phase II and Phase III funding grants.

Up to 5 teams per year will be selected to advance to Phase II through the competitive process described above.

Phase II Venture Design Funding S$300,000

During this phase, you will focus on showing commercial proof-of-concept of your technology along the developmental pathway defined earlier in the Venture Exploration phase. You will also receive further mentoring and be assigned a Venture Builder who will come alongside and guide you forward. The Venture Builder and series of Master Classes you attend will cover the following syllabus:

At the end of Phase II, you will again present your business plan and product development progress to our Advisory Board. If you are ready, you will be advanced to Phase III and start venture formation and execution.

Target Product Profile (TPP)
Product Development Roadmap
Action Plan
Regulatory Pathway

Phase III Venture Execution Funding S$500,000

By Phase III, you and your team will have robust data supporting a fundable business proposition using your new disruptive technology.

Now, SMART IC will provide your team with the venture-building skills needed to grow a fundable team and raise Series A capital (you may also be eligible for up to $5 million in Central Gap Funding). During Phase III, you will be assigned a Venture Build mentor and will take Master Classes covering the following syllables:

Execution Skills
Business Model Development
Financials (P/L)
Team Building
Venture Formation
Business Plan Preparation
Pitch Deck
Fund Raising

By the end of Phase III, we expect you and your team to attract venture investment and launch your company

Eligibility Criteria:

SMART Innovation Grant 2.0 is open to all researchers, scientists, and engineers in Singapore at:

Public IHL (Institutions of Higher Learning), including but not limited to NUS, NTU.
Research centres include but are not limited to A*STAR or CREATE.
Public hospitals and medical research centre.

Evaluation Criteria

1. Technical Merits (TECHNICAL)

Degree of innovation/creativity
Stage of development (early idea or prototype)
The credibility of underlying technology/science
Level of resources and time already spent on fundamental research at an institution
Patentability/right to use

2. Demonstration of Real Need/Commercial Market (MARKET)

Demonstrates a real need or problem that is addressed
Size of market
Advantage over competition
Barriers to market entry
Feasibility of commercial strategy

3. The Credibility of Team (TEAM)

Standing in the research community
Previous commercial success/experience
Willingness to work with mentors
Does the team understand the desired commercial outcome of the grant?
Is there a committed fellow or graduate student?

Grant Call Process:

The entry point for Innovation Grant 2.0 is an application for the Venture Exploration Workshop. A Grant Call will be made annually. The second Venture Exploration Workshop will open on July 1, 2024, and close on August 31, 2024. There will be an interview and due diligence process by our Advisory Board to select the winning candidates by December 2024.

2022 Application Statistics:

- Total 52 applicants
- 12 were accepted to the Phase I Venture Exploration Workshop
- Out of which 9 will be expected to advance to Phase II Venture Design Funding in the fall of 2023