Precarn Announces $2 Million Funding Boost For Intelligent Systems Research Of Small Companies Acros
Ottawa-based Precarn Incorporated has announced that it will provide a $2 million funding boost to support the intelligent systems (IS) and robotics research and development (R&D) efforts of small businesses across Canada.
The announcement follows an initial $2 million-commitment made by Precarn earlier this year for small business R&D initiatives, bringing the total investment to $4 million.
Under this second round of funding as part of Precarn’s Small Company Program, Precarn – a not-for-profit company representing a national network of corporations, universities, colleges, research institutes and government partners who are involved in the development of intelligent information and communications technology (iICT) – expects to fund six to eight projects, depending on each project size. Qualified companies must be Canadian-owned, with five to 50 employees and revenues between $500,000 and $10 million.
“The response to the first round of funding, awarded in February 2006, was so positive that we released the second pool of funds several months earlier than planned,” said Paul Johnston, President and CEO of Precarn. Having funded five of the 19 project proposals submitted in the initial round, “it’s clear that our goal to create a program to address the needs of small companies in Canada has hit its mark, and there is now an increased opportunity to support more companies that can benefit from the program,” he explained.
With smaller companies making up the bulk of Canadian businesses, “it is our hope that this extra financial support will translate into increased commercialization of these technologies by Canadian companies,” Johnston said.
The Small Company Program is attractive for small businesses, he explained, because it is designed to support smaller projects where the application process is faster and less resource-intensive than larger initiatives. To encourage participation from smaller firms, Precarn’s application and review process has been simplified, said Johnston, including reducing the length for proposals and placing a focus on projects attractive to smaller firms.
Companies can access the request for proposal at http://www.precarn.ca. The deadline for submissions is November 15, 2006 for concept documents and January 15, 2007 for final proposals. project costs. NanoQuébec and future network partners will draw from the national fund through various matching formulas.
About Precarn
Precarn is an independent not-for-profit company that supports the pre-commercial development of leading-edge technologies. Precarn works with Canadian companies who are seeking to commercialize their new ideas to get an edge in global markets. Unlike other research funding programs, Precarn uses a collaborative model that includes a developer, a customer and an academic research partner in every project.
This collaboration accelerates development, reduces risk and shares the cost of the R&D. Precarn provides access to an extensive national network of world-class researchers, innovative companies and sources of funding. Precarn receives support from Industry Canada, other federal departments and provincial government agencies, as well as private sources.
