The US – India Science and Technology endowment fund

The Indian and United States government have come together to establish the United States – India Science and Technology Endowment Fund. The Indian government through the science and technology department and the US, through its state government have formed this pact to promote the joint activities of citizens of these two countries that would lead to innovation and entrepreneurship through the application of science and technology. The aim of the Fund is to support and foster joint applied R&D to generate public good through the commercialization of technology developed through sustained partnerships between U.S. and Indian researchers and entrepreneurs.  The U.S.-India Science and Technology Endowment Fund activities are implemented and administered through the bi-national Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF).

This endowment fund has announced its 7^th call for the program of getting funded. Every year they open up their gates for budding entrepreneurs to submit their ideas, present the entire vision and after proper due diligence by experts, the best teams are selected to be the winners and they are privileged to get funded for their ideation by the endowment fund. The funding or the grants size is set to be up to Rs. 2.50 crores or approximately $ 400,000.

On 9^th May 2016, the first stage was made open for all the people to apply to it. The first stage is the stage of submitting the executive summaries of the business plan. The applicants must complete the Preliminary Information and Declaration. They must submit an executive summary of their project online on the official website of the fund.

Eligibility:

Proposals must include a minimum of one partner from each country. Bi-national teams applying to the Endowment Fund will work together to commercialize technologies for societal impact.

The bi-national teams can include:

1. Incorporated companies including start-up companies; or
2. Non-incorporated entities; or
3. Individuals or consortia from academia, government laboratories, non-government R&D institutions

Stages of the whole funding:

Stage 1: Executive summary submission

The last date to submit your summaries is 15^th June 2016, 11:59PM according to Pacific Standard Time. The Endowment Secretariat will check for the completion and eligibility of the Executive Summaries. Then, review will be done by the Joint Screening expert panels (one in each program area) comprised of subject matter experts, business professionals, entrepreneurs and Board members from both India and the United States. This process shall be completed by August end and a small number of executive summaries based on the evaluation criteria below will be announced.

Evaluation Criteria for Executive Summary

• Problem being addressed
• Market size and target customer
• Societal impact
• Innovativeness of product and technology
• Commercialization strategy and timeline
• Team’s strength
• Nature and need of collaboration

Last date: 15^th June 2016

Stage 2: Business plan presentation and information on technical aspects

The Shortlisted teams from Stage-1 will not have to submit a business plan presentation and technical information through the online portal of the fund. The PowerPoint presentation must be uploaded on the program website. The presentation should be geared for 20 minutes or less.
The shortlisted teams will be called for presentations before the 3rd week of November and shall present their ideas before the Joint Expert Panels. The Expert Panels will include subject experts, business professionals, entrepreneurs and Board members from India and the United States. Each applicant will be given 20 minutes to present the business plan followed by question and answer session. The Joint expert panels will select finalists.

Evaluation Criteria for Business Plan and Presentation

• Problem being addressed
• Market size and target customer
• Societal impact
• Innovativeness of product and technology
• Ownership of intellectual property rights
• Team’s strength
• Nature and need of collaboration
• Commercialization strategy and timeline
• Financial projections
• Risks and challenges for deployment and scaling-up

Stage 3: Due diligence and site inspection

In this stage, the finalist teams will be expected to submit their due diligence reports. Also, they are expected to submit their written acceptance of the Terms and Conditions (T&C) specified in Annexure I

Last date to submit this: 20^th December 2016

Stage 4: Budget discussions with the finalists

Once the due diligence is submitted by the teams, the secretariat will himself conduct the diligence either directly or through third parties. This process will include a budget discussion with the Indian and U.S. partners together and site inspection (if required) for Indian and U.S. partners respectively. The due diligence team will be constituted in each country and will be comprised of financial and technical experts and/ or Board representatives/ nominees. The due diligence reports will be collected, collated, and presented by the Secretariat to the Board as part of the recommendations to the Board.

To be completed by 20^th January 2017

Stage 5: Final selection

The Board will make the final decision based on the recommendations of the Joint Expert Panels and Due Diligence reports submitted by the Secretariat. The Board will select the final awardees.

Awardees announcement: Mid-February

Stage 6: Grant Release

The Endowment Secretariat will disburse the grant based on the finalized milestone and grant release schedule. The project shall be implemented strictly in accordance with the Terms & Conditions

Tentative date: 15^th March 2017

All bi- national teams with the following uniqueness are allowed to be a part of this endowment fund –

• Innovative product or technology beyond the idea stage
• High societal impact
• Significant potential to commercialize within 2-3 years

If you think you can make it through this eligibility criteria and you have it in you to make it to the top, then hurry up – make your team or individually register yourself here.

Once you register yourself, sign in and complete the first stage of the funding by submitting your executive summary. Make sure you read all the terms and conditions and make note of the format that is to be followed. All this and complete information about the funding is up on the official website of the endowment fund

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