Foundation for Assistance to Innovation Fund for Assistance to the Development of Small Forms of Enterprises in the Scientific and Technical Sphere

Innovation Assistance Fund is a state non-profit organization in the form of a federal state budgetary institution, formed in accordance with Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of February 3, 1994 No. 65. The main objectives of the Fund are to conduct a state policy of development and support in the scientific and technical field, create and develop a support infrastructure, promote the creation of new jobs for the effective use of the scientific and technical potential of the Russian Federation, financial, information and other assistance, involve young people in innovative activities, as well as attract extra-budgetary investments in the field of small innovative entrepreneurship.

The Innovation Promotion Fund implements innovative development programs aimed at creating new and developing existing high-tech Russian companies. These programs are aimed at supporting companies that already have experience in developing and selling their own knowledge-intensive products and are planning to develop and master new types of products. The competition was attended by research and production companies in such areas as medicine, new production technologies, new materials, socially oriented projects.

Main objectives of the Fund

• Implementation of the state policy of development and support in the scientific and technical sphere
• Creation and development of support infrastructure
• Promoting the creation of new jobs for the effective use of the scientific and technical potential of the Russian Federation
• Financial, informational and other assistance
• Engaging Young People in Innovation
• Attracting extra-budgetary investments in small innovative entrepreneurship

History

2023

Grant of 30 million rubles to DocsInBox document automation service

On December 26, 2023, the DocsInBox document flow automation service announced the attraction of 30 million rubles. The company won a grant from the Innovation Assistance Fund, and the money received will be used, among other things, to introduce artificial intelligence tools. Read more here.

Allocation of a grant in the amount of 50 million rubles for 3iTech

3iTech (DSS Lab LLC), a Russian vendor of solutions based on artificial intelligence for business, received a grant in the amount of 50 million rubles from the Innovation Assistance Fund as part of the Implementation-Artificial Intelligence competition in the direction of Natural Language Processing. Representatives of the 3iTech reported this on December 4, 2023. Read more here.

Grant of RUB 4 mln for Sellty

The developer of the cloud platform for the quick launch of the B2B portal Sellty received a grant from the Innovation Assistance Fund in the amount of 4 million rubles. It will be directed to the development of a recommendation system for managing e-commerce based on AI and machine learning technologies. Sellty announced this on October 24, 2023. Read more here.

Allocation of 7 billion rubles for 250 projects

In 2022, about 7 billion rubles were allocated from the Innovation Assistance Fund (FSI). This money went to the creation and modernization of 250 high-tech industries in the field of small and medium-sized businesses, said on January 5, 2023, the general director of the fund, Sergei Polyakov, at a meeting with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

We allocate up to 30 million rubles for the launch of innovative production, when the stage of R&D (research and development work) has already been completed. This support helps enterprises develop very effectively, "Polyakov said.

Innovation Assistance Fund for the year allocated 7 billion rubles for 250 projects

According to him, in 2018-2022. FSI allocated about 21 billion rubles for such projects, and the increase in revenue of innovative products through the grant amounted to more than 140 billion rubles.

Among the profiles of the developed industries, Polyakov singled out food, agricultural machinery, refrigeration equipment for large shopping centers, laser machines for cutting metal, fluorography devices, endoscopic equipment. The fund receives about 20 thousand applications for grants per year, said its CEO.

He said that one of the fund's most massive programs is the Umnik program. More than 160 thousand young scientists took part in it, 23 thousand of whom have already received foundation grants for the implementation of their innovation-oriented scientific projects. At the same time, the results of these projects are not only scientific articles, inventions and patents, but also created high-tech enterprises, the head of the FSI emphasized.

He added that by the end of 2022, FSI was developing 14 different support programs in the field of digital technologies, artificial intelligence. Applicants can receive support at all stages: from development to the introduction of digital solutions and products in the field of AI.^[1]

2022

Grant support to BASEALT

On January 10, 2023, BASEALT received grant support from the Innovation Assistance Fund to finalize the libdomain open library, designed to create and apply domain administration tools with various organizations: Samba, FreeIPA, Active Directory. This decision is especially necessary when the public sector and business are massively switching from imported operating systems to Russian ones, and the tools for administering domestic systems are actively developing. Read more here.

AI developers will be able to receive multimillion-dollar grants to support activities

As it became known to TAdviser, the Innovation Assistance Fund (FSI) has prepared two programs to support the current activities of developers in the field of AI - "Anticrisis" and "Implementation." Unlike previously launched mechanisms, the new programs are not focused on stimulating development, but on maintaining the current activities of representatives of medium and small businesses. Grants under the programs can only be received by companies that fall under the definition of a small business and already have AI-based products.

According to Tatyana Soyuznova, head of the department of national projects and state tasks of the FSI, many existing developers faced operational difficulties. Business has become more cautious about buying IT solutions, including those based on AI. The programs are aimed at supporting developers.

Thus, the Anti-Crisis program, which will be announced in the coming days, allows small companies to receive up to 30 million rubles and spend them on employee remuneration, payment for services under GPC contracts with individuals, and the purchase of computing power and equipment. Moreover, according to the terms of the program, the funds allocated by the FSI can be up to 80% of the target costs. If earlier the programs assumed the upper ceiling of the compensated salaries of employees - 120 thousand rubles, then in the Anti-Crisis program the ceiling was raised to 240 thousand rubles. The company will be able to receive a grant under the program only once.

The Implementation program is under revision and will be announced no earlier than mid-June 2022. It involves compensation for the loss of margin to companies that already work in the market. The terms of the program imply compensation for up to 50% of the cost of existing AI implementation projects. Accordingly, an application for a grant can be submitted only after signing an agreement with the customer. This will allow developers to be more flexible in pricing. Moreover, only those companies that can confirm that in the previous year they sold AI-based solutions no less than the amount of the grant can apply for support under the Implementation program. According to Tatyana Soyuznova, now the FSI, together with the Ministry of Economic Development, are working on the possibility of additional financing of the fund's programs.

According to a source familiar with the situation, grants under the Anti-Crisis program in 2022 will be able to receive from 20 to 30 companies, under the Implementation program, up to a dozen companies specializing in AI development.

FSI has prepared two programs to support the current activities of developers in the field of AI. The photo is sobaka.ru

Alexey Lyubimov, CEO of 3iTech, a developer of speech technologies, commented on the TAdviser initiatives of the FSI. According to him, such programs are able to support small Russian companies, which are now experiencing serious difficulties due to market contraction. However, according to him, receiving financial support from the state today takes several months. For a small business, it may be too long. In his opinion, it is important to improve support mechanisms so that the receipt process does not take so long.

Tatyana Soyuznova confirmed to TAdviser that today the deadline for receiving grants from the FSI takes several months. At the same time, she drew attention to the fact that submitting applications for a grant to the FSI is one of the easiest on the market, it can be submitted in electronic form. At the same time, the product is massive, and all applications go through four stages of selection, and this takes a lot of time. The FSI is trying to optimize the process of submitting and considering applications, but receiving a grant even in ideal conditions will take at least a month.

For IT companies, income tax has already been reduced to 0%, a reduced credit rate of 3% is in effect, companies are exempt from tax and currency control. Employees of IT companies are entitled to a preferential mortgage, in addition, they are exempted from military service. Read more here

2021

Filing lawsuits against dozens of startups in unjust enrichment

As it became known in December 2021, the Innovation Assistance Fund (FSI) filed lawsuits against dozens of startups in unjust enrichment. During the existence of the organization since 1994, it has supported more than 20 thousand projects and helped create 7,700 startups, according to the FSI website.

The fund has sued at least 70 startups and small businesses to terminate contracts and recover unjust enrichment allocated in the form of grants for scientific work. According to the file of arbitration cases, the FSI decided to sue projects that received mainly from 1 to 2 million rubles, but there are also recipients of grants in the amount of 5-20 million rubles.

Innovation Fund files claims against dozens of startups in unjust enrichment

As explained in the FSI, the main reason for the claim is the failure to fulfill the obligations of companies in terms of providing reporting within the time frame established by the fund. However, on average, every fifth claim ends with a settlement agreement, the fund said.

They also noted that in the period from November 2020 to December 2021, the FSI concluded 1326 agreements on the provision of grants for research and development (R&D) with small innovative enterprises. Claims are filed against 0.6% of the total number of grantee companies in the specified period, however, among the defendants there are also recipients of funding in earlier periods.

In December 2021, the FSI began selecting projects under the Development program within the framework of the federal project Digital Technologies of the Digital Economy national project. Grants can be applied for by companies engaged in software engineering, management systems and enterprise resource planning, database management tools, new Internet communication technologies and many other digital areas.

Provision of a QRate grant in the amount of 20 million rubles

The research and production company QRate won a grant from the Innovation Assistance Fund in the amount of 20 million rubles. The funds will be invested in the creation of ground-based equipment for receiving a quantum signal from space and high-speed optical communications "satellite-Earth." Additional co-financing in the amount of 6 million rubles will be provided to the project by Gazprombank. Read more here.

Grant to Mains Lab in the amount of 20 million rubles

On January 21, 2021, the company-developer of insurance IT solutions MAINS Lab announced the passage of the competitive selection of the Innovation Assistance Fund and received a grant in the amount of 20 million rubles. Read more here.

2020

Allocation of a grant for Corpsoft24 in the amount of 20 million rubles for the Rewtas monitoring system

The company Corpsoft24 received a grant in the amount of 20 million rubles from the Innovation Assistance Fund for the development and development of the Rewtas system (Remote Employee Working Time Accounting System) for monitoring and recording the working time of employees on the "remote." This became known on December 18, 2020. Read more here.

Bortnik Fund will distribute 400 million rubles to technological startups

The Foundation for Assistance to Innovation announced the start of a competition for grants under the Start program. According to its results, the fund expects to determine about 150 winners and allocate them grants totaling about 400 million rubles.

This amount is significantly - more than 2 times - exceeds the budget of a similar competition initiated in 2019. According to its results, 166 million rubles were allocated to the winners. Moreover, most of it - 117 million rubles - received grants from IT projects.

Within the framework of the announced competition, the fund selects projects in several areas. Among them:

• digital technologies;
• new devices and intelligent production technologies;
• medicine and health saving technologies;
• new materials and chemical technologies;
• resource-saving power.

The fund accepts applications from projects for grants until January 20, 2021. Grants will be issued to projects for the first, second or third stage of the Start program.

The amount of the announced competitive selection is significantly - more than 2 times - exceeds the budget of a similar competition initiated in 2019. (photo - tradeallcrypto.com)

The maximum amount of the grant provided to projects for the first stage of the program is 2 million rubles. This stage involves conducting applied scientific research and experimental developments that will check the feasibility of scientific and technical approaches and solutions laid down in R&D. In addition, they allow you to assess the possibility of creating a product in demand on the market in the future.

Projects can receive a grant for the first stage of the program if they are implemented by individuals and legal entities-small businesses. At the same time, individuals should not simultaneously participate in applications for other grants of the fund, the exception is applications for grants for the second stage of another program of the fund - "Smart." The legal entity for participation in the competition must be registered no earlier than two years before the start of submitting applications for selection.

The maximum amount of the grant provided to projects for the second stage of the Start program is 3 million rubles, while the project should also have extrabudgetary funds in the amount of at least 50% of the grant amount. The second stage involves R&D based on previously obtained results, its results should allow the project to proceed to the first sales of innovative products being created.

Legal entities that have not previously received funding under other programs of the fund can receive a grant for the second stage of the Start program. At the same time, their projects must complete the first stage of the Start program. Also, projects may have experience in participating in joint competitions with development institutions or those aimed at implementing the National Technological Initiative and the Digital Economy national program, corresponding to the first stage of the Start program.

In addition, enterprises must be registered no earlier than 3 years before the date of application for the competition if they have not previously received funding under the fund's programs. Enterprises that have completed the first stage of the Start program must be registered no more than 4 years before applying for the competition. Managers of both enterprises should be employed in their staff, while companies should be their main place of work.

The maximum amount of the grant for the third stage of the Start program is 5 million rubles. Extra-budgetary funds of projects should be at least 50% of the grant amount. The third stage of the program involves the completion of R&D, the commercialization of innovative products created as a result of it, and the receipt of proceeds from its implementation.

The competition can be attended by enterprises whose average number of employees is at least 3 people. Companies should also have a website with information about products developed within the framework of R&D and a link to support the project by the fund.

The general conditions for enterprises wishing to receive grants for the passage of projects of a particular stage of the Start program are:

• compliance of the company with the criteria for attribution to small businesses in accordance with the federal law "On the development of small and medium-sized businesses in the Russian Federation";

• the presence of the status "Micro-enterprise" or "Small enterprise" in the unified register of small and medium-sized businesses;

• content among economic activities of OKVED code 72.1 "Scientific research and development in the field of natural and technical sciences."

Innovation Assistance Fund distributed 117 million rubles among IT projects

On March 20, 2020, the Innovation Promotion Fund summed up the results of the competitions of the Start program. 44 projects became the winners of the selections. They will receive 166 million rubles from the fund. Among the winners are 31 projects from the IT field. They will get 117 million rubles.

The Start program began its work in 2004. It is aimed at creating new and supporting existing small innovative enterprises that seek to develop and master the production of new goods, products, technologies or services using the results of their own scientific, technical and technological research, which are at the initial stage of development and have significant commercialization potential. As part of the program, the fund first selects projects to provide one-time funding during the year, but then gives them the opportunity to receive funds in the next two years.

In March 2020, the fund conducted selections for the second and third years of investment. The fund's funds can be spent by projects on expenses required by R&D, in particular - payment of wages, purchase of materials, raw materials, components, payment for work of co-executors.

Among the 44 winners of the competitions of the "Start" program are 31 projects from the IT region. They will get 117 million rubles. (photo - fasie.ru)

Of the 26 projects selected for the second year of financing, 19 are from the IT field. The remaining 7 winners are projects related to bio, nano- and chemical technologies. All winners will receive 3 million rubles each.

Among the IT projects selected for the second year of the Start program are the following:

• "Video Systems." "Development of a set of software tools for intelligent cloud and local management of the media screen network" (3 million rubles);
• "Gamma Detector." "Development of methods and tools for intraoperative use of an instant radionuclide diagnostic medical device for sentinel lymph node biopsy" (3 million rubles);
• Computing Systems Laboratory (LAN). "Development and manufacture of a prototype for virtual simulation of maxillofacial surgery with tactile feedback" (3 million rubles);
• Integrated Management Systems (IMS). "Intelligent system for monitoring the impact of harmful and hazardous factors on employees of industrial enterprises" (3 million rubles);
• NPP Aurora. "Development of a broadband scanning radio receiver with a built-in signal generator and a digital data processing unit" (3 million rubles);
• "Intelligent Robotics." "Robot manipulator for warehouse work" (3 million rubles);
• "Communication of Special Protection." "Complex of passive detection of low-flying commercial ALS, including an active counteraction system" (3 million rubles);
• "Pharmprint." "Development of a device and technology for creating individual dosages of biologically active substances on a carrier" (3 million rubles);
• Ark-Engineering. "System of additive production of metal products ArcFusion" (3 million rubles);
• "Bug Catcher." «BugCatcher. Software product of automatic formation of the test protocol ON at the time of its implementation "(3 million rubles);
• NPP MIR. "Development of a line of adjustable low-power valve-inductor electric drives of integrated version with energy efficiency class of IE3 engines" (3 million rubles);
• "Inventor." "Automated control system (ACS) for the process of creating and implementing inventions" (3 million rubles);
• "Intelligence Color Vision Systems." "Hardware and software complex for automating the operator's workplace for sorting, classification and assessment of precious stones" (3 million rubles);
• "NeuroIT." "Development of a mobile neuro-interface headset based on hybrid technology for recording bioelectric activity and non-invasive stimulation of brain structures for people with impaired motor functions" (3 million rubles);
• Loko. "Development of a mobile analyzer of the quality of cereal plants and their derivatives" (3 million rubles);
• "Miolimb." "Development of a prosthetic brush with a tactile feedback unit" (3 million rubles);
• Intekhgormash. Development of a robotic walking module for efficient minerals underground mining (RUB 3 million);
• "Mireir." "Module for intelligent management of supercapacitors to improve their energy efficiency in distributed power applications" (3 million rubles);
• Modern Radio Technology (CPT). "Development of technology and creation of production of high-frequency cable assemblies resistant to special factors" (3 million rubles).

In total, 66 applications were received for the competition, of which 8 were not admitted to the competition for formal reasons. The fund did not recommend 32 applications for support based on the results of correspondence examination and face-to-face expert jury.

Of the 18 projects selected for the third year of financing, 12 belong to the IT sector. The remaining winners are projects related to bio, nano and chemical technologies. All projects except two will receive 5 million rubles each. Two projects will receive 4 million rubles each.

Among the winners of the competition, IT projects are as follows:

• "MES-Technologiya." "Adaptive in-process production planning system in real time" (5 million rubles);
• Novatech. "Development of a software and hardware solution - a multipurpose intelligent modular copter platform using 3D printing technology" (5 million rubles);
• NPP SoftAutomatic. "Development of an automated hydraulic press control system for the production of blanks from high-strength aluminum alloys for subsequent isothermal stamping" (5 million rubles);
• AGR Software. "Development of a comprehensive industry information system for managing the mineral resource base of the mining enterprise" (5 million rubles);
• "Vinova." "Development and manufacture of a prototype software and hardware complex for support and optimal configuration of hydraulic abrasive machines" (5 million rubles);
• AST - Smart Solutions. "Development of an Automated Module for Long-Term, Large-Tonnage, Anaerobic Storage of Fruits and Vegetables" (5 million rubles);
• "Epigraph." "Development of a portable highly sensitive gas analyzer based on a sensor of gaseous toxic substances manufactured using graphene films on silicon carbide substrates" (5 million rubles);
• "Directorchual." "Platform for streaming analysis of big data DIRECUAL" (5 million rubles);
• "Sensis." "3DSensor - high-speed multi-sensor technology for measuring, monitoring and 3D analysis of complex objects in production conditions" (5 million rubles);
• "Web2Print." "Web2print.pro Intelligent system for managing a printing enterprise with web-to-print functionality" (5 million rubles);
• "Freetrane." "Development of a brake power roller stand for technical diagnostics of brake systems of wheeled vehicles for their compliance with mandatory safety requirements for the purpose of admission to participate in road traffic" (5 million rubles);
• Smart Solutions. "Online service" Healthy Back 2.0 "(5 million rubles).

In total, 53 applications were received for the competition. Three of them were not admitted to the competition for formal reasons, 32 were not recommended for support based on the results of correspondence examination and face-to-face expert juries.

Providing funding to Modum Lab to develop an educational platform for schoolchildren

On January 17, 2020, it became known that Modum Lab won 20 million rubles from the Innovation Assistance Fund to develop an educational platform for schoolchildren. Read more here.

2019: Provision of funding through the support of the National Program "Digital Economy"

The Innovation Promotion Fund will provide funding through the support of the Digital Economy national program to the winners of the Development - Digital Technologies competition by the end of 2019. The winners of the "Start - Digital Technologies" competition will be partially funded by the fund until the end of 2019, and partially in early 2020.

The Innovation Promotion Fund will provide funding to 118 winning projects of the Development - Digital Technologies competition and 79 winners of the Start-Digital Technologies competition

The Innovation Promotion Fund determined the winners of the Development - Digital Technologies competition on November 29 and December 9, 2019. They were 118 projects, the total cost of which is more than 2 billion rubles. In total, 403 applications were received for the competition with a total amount of more than 7 billion rubles. Among the winners of the competition, in particular, such projects and companies as:

• Rusinges, manufacturer of AR, VR, software, as well as advertising structures and large-format printing; "Development of augmented reality tools for visualization of complex 3-dimensional objects as architectural elements of city streets" (20 million rubles);

• Smartinteh, software developer, system IT integrator, manufacturer of telecommunication equipment repair works; "Development and manufacture of a hardware and software complex for wireless data transmission on prices and characteristics of goods for electronic price tags" (20 million rubles);

• Tehsapfir, manufacturer of synthetic sapphire single crystals and equipment for its growth, optical elements of various shapes from sapphire single crystals (Al2O3) - watch glasses, plates, domes, etc.; "Development of the software and hardware complex of the intelligent control system for the production of synthetic sapphire using the modified Kyropoulos method" (20 million rubles);

• "A-med," "Development of a stabilodynamic game rehabilitation simulator with biological feedback in a virtual reality environment" (15 million rubles);

• "GC ф1софт.ру," integrator 1C; "Development of an intelligent expert clinical decision support system for differential diagnosis of urinary disorders in men" UROQUEST "(20 million rubles);

• NPP "Microsad," specialization - research in the field of crop production; "Automatic system for early diagnosis of diseases of apple trees using computer vision algorithms" (20 million rubles);

• Texel, software developer and manufacturer of professional 3D scanners for obtaining 3D models of people and large objects; "Intelligent system for evaluating parameters and recommendations of clothing on 3D-scanning of consumers" (20 million rubles);

• Polykod, oilfield services software developer; "PolyPlan - simulator for the development of oil and gas fields" (20 million rubles);

• "Underwater Robotics," developer and manufacturer of underwater video cameras and tele-controlled underwater vehicles; "Software and hardware platform of an intelligent system for automatic control of a remote-controlled unmanned underwater vehicle" (18 million rubles);

• "Game Systems," developer of VR attractions; "Development of software and hardware diagnostic complex for evaluation, training, and correction of psycho-emotional state on the basis of virtual reality systems, neurointeofacies, and tactile impact systems of a wide range (20 million rubles);

• "B152," specialization - processing and protection of personal data, consulting and preparation of documents on personal data protection; "Implementation of an expert system for assessing compliance and monitoring the implementation of personal data legislation based on modern approaches to machine learning and natural language processing" (20 million rubles);

• "Module-B," design center of electronics; "Development and production of a cattle condition monitoring system" (12.1 million rubles);

• Antor Business Solutions, Development of a software system for planning areas of responsibility and routes of mobile employees serving customers (17 million rubles);

• Ilian, developer of medical software; "Development of an information system for managing health risks of employees of industrial enterprises based on early signs of occupational diseases (using artificial intelligence tools" (20 million rubles).

The finalists of the Start-Digital Technologies competition were also identified by the Innovation Promotion Fund on November 29 and December 9, 2019. These were 79 projects with a total value of 234 million rubles. In total, the competition received 419 applications totaling more than 1 billion rubles. Among the finalists of the competition, in particular, the following companies and projects:

• "Nfresh," site developer; "Development of a system for assessing the quality of fruits and vegetables based on computer vision technologies using neural network algorithms" (3 million rubles);

• "Shu concept," developer of software for the production of shoes; "Development of an automated shoe shoe simulation system based on digital data of the client's foot and a system of recommendations for choosing shoes" (3 million rubles);

• "Laboratory of e-sports records," "Creation of an IT service with the aim of comprehensive automation of effective medical and psychological training of e-sportsmen" (3 million rubles);

• "Eye Systems," developer of highly intelligent fatigue control systems for drivers and operators of equipment based on machine vision technologies; "Finalizing the software and hardware complex of the ADAS-system for monitoring the attention of drivers of the OKO to work in bright ambient lighting and the presence of reflective elements in the driver's uniform" (3 million rubles).

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