Venture financing is open to start up or expand small and medium enterprises.
The facility is designed to accelerate the commercialization of technologies and may be availed even by graduating students and budding inventors, Edgar Garcia, Technology Application and Promotion Institute (TAPI) director, said yesterday.
“TAPI provides assistance from idea generation to technology commercialization,” he said during the opening of the 2020 National Invention Contest & Exhibits at the SMX Convention Center, SM Aura in Taguig City.
He cited funding opportunities ranging from support and assistance to technology promotion, transfer and commercialization.
Under the Philippine Technology Transfer Act (2009) TAPI is mandated to promote the transfer and commercialization of technologies assisted and developed by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
“We are the marketing arm of the DOST,” Garcia said.
TAPI is also mandated by the Inventors and Invention Incentive Act to administer the invention development assistance fund for inventors.
TAPI’s Venture Financing Program for start-ups, for example, is designed for emerging or innovative technologies. The facility is meant to improve production efficiency, increase income and sales and improve product quality through the acquisition of production equipment
Up to P5 million in funding is available for DOST-funded technologies. Beyond that, funding will be sourced from DOST’s Grants in Aid with 30 percent of the project cost shouldered by the proponent.
There is also venture financing for environmentally-sound technologies to encourage medium and small enterprises to use clean production technologies.
TAPI’s Purchase Order Financing covers the acquisition of raw materials needed to produce the volume of products required by purchase orders.
“We also fund fees for certifications needed for DOST-funded technologies to enter local and international markets,” Garcia said.
TAPI’s DOST-Academe Technology-Based Enterprise Development (DATBED) program develops entrepreneurial competencies among students by allowing them to manage their own technology-based projects. It supports income-generating projects that are technologically innovative, have high market potential and are technically viable when commercialized.
DATBED aims to solve under- or unemployment faced by students after graduation by providing them access to funds and facilities to start their own micro-scale technology-based enterprises.
TAPI’s Intellectual Property Rights Assistance Program provides Filipino inventors, researchers and individuals assistance in securing intellectual property protection. It funds, for example, filing fees and consultations for the registration of utility models or for the registration of patents.
Grants up to P200,000 are available under TAPI’s Concept Prototyping program. It allows individuals to purchase the equipment needed for the production of a working prototype.
The Invention-Based Enterprise Development (IBED) program helps inventors become entrepreneurs by preparing their products for commercial production. It funds the purchase of raw materials and provides inventors the appropriate access to markets.
“It supports inventors develop a business enterprise by making an invention available to consumers,” Garcia said. “It covers the production costs of an invention in a commercial scale.”
IBED covers pilot scale testing or small scale production to test the feasibility of a product and pilot produce it for market testing. It includes the provision of raw materials and the purchase of tools needed to manufacture the product.
The Industry-Based Invention Development program provides technical and financial assistance for the fabrication of a commercial prototype model of an invention with a proven industrial application. Both inventor and a private enterprise may avail of the facility.
TAPI’s Laboratory Testing facility assists technologists, inventors and researchers avail of the laboratories and facilities of research and development institutes to test, verify and evaluate the overall functionality of an invention.
Its Invention Guarantee Fund provides a special lending window through the Land Bank of the Philippines to extend financial support in the commercialization of a patented invention.
“Our programs are proposal driven and TAPI needs to receive proposals to avail of its assistance,” Garcia said.
