In June 2020, the Ukrainian Startup Fund joined the EUREKA Globalstars initiative for the first time within the framework of the international innovation program EUREKA. This will allow Ukrainian business teams, research institutions and universities to participate in a joint project competition between the member countries of “EUREKA” and Singapore – “Call for Joint R&D Projects under EUREKA between Singapore and the EUREKA member countries”.
The official announcement of its launch and conditions of participation was published on June 8, 2020 on the official website of “EUREKA”. So far, Singapore and 14 member countries have joined the competition: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, Great Britain, and South Korea.
To participate in the competition, it is necessary to create a consortium that will include at least 2 countries (Ukraine and Singapore). The remaining participants from the above-mentioned countries can join the consortium if they wish.
First stage
After the creation of the consortium, the country-coordinator of the project is determined among its members. Then a joint application is formed from all member countries of the consortium. It is submitted by the coordinator online on the “EUREKA” platform. The deadline for submission is October 15, 2020.
If the application is checked for compliance with the criteria, the next stage begins.
Second stage
Each Ukrainian member of the consortium separately submits an online application on the Ukrainian Startup Fund platform to receive funding for the implementation of its part of the project. The selection of projects for funding in the form of grants will be on a competitive basis, the work will be evaluated and selected by the Board of Independent Investment Experts of the Fund. The application deadline for the Fund is November 15, 2020.
After evaluation at the national level, a list from the country with a rating of participating projects is formed. It is submitted to the EUREKA Association for the formation of the overall ranking of the competition projects. According to this rating, a final decision on the winners of the competition and financial support will be made at a multilateral conciliation meeting between all national institutions of the EUREKA Globalstars initiative and representatives of the EUREKA program.
Projects that receive a positive decision from all participants in the conciliation meeting will be nominated for the EUREKA label.
We remind participants that the Ukrainian Startup Fund provides support exclusively to Ukrainian business, namely projects in the early stages of development (pre-seed and seed). At the same time, higher education institutions and research institutions can participate in the competition as co-performers.
If the tender commission of the Fund approves the project and the Supervisory Board provides confirmation of its funding, the co-executors (higher education establishments and scientific institutions) will be able to apply to the Ministry of Education and Science for financial support for the project.
Approval of projects based on the competition results is scheduled for the end of January 2021, the start of funding for the finalists – in April 2021.
