Atlantic Canada Business Grants

New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF)

Lab-to-Market Fund

by |

Amount:

No Fixed Amount

Type of Program:

Investment

Description:

The Lab-to-Market Fund aims to accelerate the development of technologies that have commercial applications. This fund supports activities that help develop new or improved technologies and/or transfer knowledge that address specific, well-defined market problems.

Comments on Funding:

Funding is up to 33% of projects with NB SMEs or not-for-profit organizations, and up to 25% of projects that do not have NB SMEs or not-for-profit organizations as partners. 

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Rolling deadline

Eligibility:

Applicants must be researchers that should have:

  • a commercialization partner, SMEs or not-for-profit organizations, 
  • student participation, 
  • a clear understanding of the market problem being solved and the competitive advantages of their new technology, 
  • a self-assessment of technology readiness level (minimum TRL 3),
  • a plan for the intellectual property. 

Application Steps:

1

Applicants should apply through the NBIF Research Application Portal.

Documentation Needed: 

The applicant must submit:

  • the application form,
  • project plans that include clear deliverables and timelines. 

Other Things to Note:

Changed source 1

Program Contact:

Lab-to-Market Fund Application Portal - New Brunswick Innovation Foundation

Lab-to-Market - New Brunswick Innovation Foundation

NBIF AI Pre-voucher

by |

Amount:

$20,000.00

Type of Program:

Grants

Description:

The purpose of the AI Pre-Voucher Fund is to help foster the creation of new industry-academia collaborations by allowing an industry partner to explore a small project related to an artificial intelligence (AI) application with an academic partner, at no cost. The project must center around the use of applied AI to solve an industrial problem, with the potential to advance the industry partner’s problem definition through to at least a proof of concept within a nine month time frame.  

Comments on Funding:

Funding is in the form of a pre-voucher up to a maximum size of $20,000. No leverage is required.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Rolling deadline

Eligibility:

The industry partner must:

  • have demonstrated revenue from FY20-21 and would be in a position to make a cash contribution to a project within the next 12 months,
  • have not previously contributed cash to a research project with the proposed PI,
  • have physical operations in NB and is incorporated in Canada,
  • have not previously used this NBIF AI pre-voucher program.

The PI:

  • must be an eligible NBIF grant holder at an NB research institution,
  • The PI or someone on their team must have some expertise in artificial intelligence, as demonstrated by any combination of their CV, previous AI projects, and/or peer-reviewed articles.

Application Steps:

1

The applicants must submit a report at the end of the 9 months of funding.

Other Things to Note:

New funding for this program will be released approximately every 3 months.

Program Contact:

Artificial Intelligence Fund

AI Pre - Voucher Application Portal

New Brunswick Innovation Voucher

by |

Amount:

$80,000.00

Type of Program:

Grants

Description:

The Innovation Voucher Fund (IVF) was designed to provide small and medium-sized businesses in New Brunswick with the scientific expertise and facilities they need to accelerate their growth through research and development (R&D). This includes new products or operational efficiencies.

Comments on Funding:

Funding is up to $80,000 to cover 80% of the cost of an R&D project.
Projects may range in size from $10,000 to $100,000, as to which NBIF will contribute up to a maximum of $80,000.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Rolling Deadline

Eligibility:

Applicants must:

  • be companies,
  • be provincially or federally incorporated and registered to carry on business in New Brunswick,
  • have fewer than 500 employees,
  • have 24 months operating history which includes meaningful sales and employment of staff
  • be committed to collaborating with a researcher at one of New Brunswick’s post-secondary institutions or research organizations.

The project must demonstrate a solid business case, strong market potential and commercial and financial feasibility, the ability to generate a sustained competitive advantage for the company, and the potential for economic impact on the province of New Brunswick.

Application Steps:

Applicants must:

1

submit a complete project proposal to NBIF. Successful applicants will be matched with the research professional(s) they require to carry out the innovation.

2

develop and submit a project work plan and budget to NBIF jointly with the collaborating researchers.

3

sign a contract agreement between all parties involved in the project.

Funds will be provided directly to the collaborating research organization under a contract agreement and used by the researcher to offset the eligible expenses that are incurred in relation to the project. 

Any intellectual property (IP) created as a result of the project will be owned by the company that receives the voucher, and for the purposes that the IP was created unless otherwise agreed to by the company.

Documentation Needed: 

Applicants must submit:

  • a complete project proposal providing an in-depth description of the proposed innovation and project work plans that state the objectives and outcomes of the research and development, as well as the expected costs,
  • the signed contract agreement.

Other Things to Note:

No other details available.

Program Contact:

Innovation Voucher - NBIF

NBIF-Innovation-Voucher-Fund-Guidelines-June2020.pdf

Startup Investment Fund (SIF)

by |

Amount:

$200,000.00

Type of Program:

Investment

Description:

The Startup Investment Fund (SIF) provides New Brunswick entrepreneurs with the investment capital they need to develop their product into a commercially viable venture. This investment will take the form of equity through the purchase of common shares or issuance of convertible debentures. Initial investment from NBIF is expected to be used to leverage additional funding from other investors or funding agencies to fully support the business for a 12 to 18-month period.

Comments on Funding:

Under the SIF, companies are eligible for pre-seed capital investment of up to $200,000.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Rolling Deadline

Eligibility:

Applicants must:

  • be New Brunswick entrepreneurs,
  • have domain or technical expertise in market space, 
  • have 12-18 months of runway.

Application Steps:

1

Applicants must contact the Startup Investment Fund team at proposals@nbif.ca.

Documentation Needed: 

Applicants must submit:

  • a business plan, 
  • three-year financial projections with monthly detail for the first year, and quarterly detail for the following two.

Investors would also like to see a plan towards raising additional rounds of financing, to see the milestones that will create a path that will allow you to raise larger rounds of financing at a higher valuation.

Program Contact:

Startup Investment Fund - NBIF

Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ESCF)

by |

Amount:

$100,000.00

Type of Program:

Grants

Description:

The Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ESCF) helps move New Brunswick university, college and institutional research to market. The ESCF assists the academic & institutional research communities in pursuing commercialization opportunities by providing up to $50,000 in funding and go-to-market support.

Projects can be applied for in one of two phases:

Phase 1: for technologies that have achieved proof of concept and are now in initial stages of development.

Phase 2: for projects that have clarified the opportunity for commercialization as well as target markets and potential revenue streams.  

Comments on Funding:

Funding is up to $50,000 for projects in either Phase 1 or Phase 2. A given project can receive at most one Phase 1 award and one Phase 2 award, up to a maximum of $50,000 in each phase.

When It Ends:

Ongoing

Deadline:

Next deadlines to be determined

Eligibility:

Applicants must be:

  • research personnel, including professors, research staff, and faculty members, at approved New Brunswick research institutes,
  • graduate, and college students, as well as post-docs, provided a faculty member is a co-applicant.

Eligible expenses include: 

  • intellectual property development,
  • assessment of market potential,
  • development of go-to-market strategies,
  • business plans and strategic plans,
  • development of intellectual property protection strategies,
  • proof-of-concept or prototype development,
  • technology design and optimization. 

Application Steps:

1

Applicants should apply through the NBIF Research Portal.

Documentation Needed: 

Applicants must submit:

  1. 1
    the application form,
  2. 2
    a technical report, including a financial report of expenses, at the end of the 1-year funding period.

Other Things to Note:

Innovacorp and New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) are proud to be working together to deliver the Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ESCF) in both Nova Scotia and New Brunswick 

Program Contact:

Early Stage Commercialization Fund (ESCF)

Application Portal