Innovation proposal guidelines for projects requesting greater than $100,000 (Atlantic Fisheries Fund)

On this page

• Project title
• Project summary
• Management’s experience
• R&D team
• Summary of equipment and/or facilities
• Key collaborators
• Summary of work completed to date
• Activities to be carried out
• Project schedule
• Major project milestones
• Regulatory approvals
• Intellectual property
• Project costs and financing
• Commercialization strategy

Project title

Provide a short concise title that conveys what the proposed product/process/service will be once the R&D project is complete.

Project summary

Provide a non-technical description (2 pages maximum) of the proposed product/process/service, the issues it will address and its significance for potential customers. Describe why the R&D project is important and how the results will impact your business or organization.

Management’s experience

Identify key project management members. Provide a summary of their roles and responsibilities and their experience in managing projects such as the one proposed.

R&D team

Identify key members of the project team and provide a summary of their roles and responsibilities. For each member identified, please provide a résumé (2 pages maximum) of their specific expertise and experience for the work involved.

Summary of equipment and/or facilities

Provide a description of the main equipment and/or facilities required during the project.

Key collaborators

Identify the key collaborators, alliances or other linkages that are relevant to the project. Describe their roles and responsibilities and include a rationale as to why they’re important to the project.

Summary of work completed to date

Provide a summary of work already completed leading up to this proposal, including any technical evidence that supports the feasibility of the proposed project, such as:

• proof-of-concept
• supportive data
• references
• literature review

Describe the current stage of development of the proposed project.

Activities to be carried out

Provide an overview of the activities to be carried out. For each activity, specify:

• the objective
• expected outcome(s)
• the roles and responsibilities of the team members involved
• the time required for each activity
• the procedures or methods to be employed
• where applicable, describe the technological uncertainties and risk mitigation strategies for each task

Project schedule

Using a format similar to the table presented below, provide the project schedule for the activities described in the previous section.

Major project milestones

Using a format similar to the table presented below, identify and describe the project’s:

• major milestones
• indicators of success
• targeted completion dates

Project milestones are defined as the achievement of specific activities necessary for the completion of the project, such as a critical path to project success. These milestones may:

• span several of the project’s activities
• be related to any aspect of the project, such as:
  • technical
  • financial
  • management
  • commercialization of the resulting product/process/service

Regulatory approvals

If applicable, discuss any anticipated regulatory approvals required for all phases of the proposed project, such as:

• R&D
• production
• commercialization

Intellectual property

If applicable, describe the background and foreground intellectual property arrangements required to exploit the technology involved in the project, such as:

• copyrights
• trademarks
• patents
• industrial design rights
• trade secrets

Describe the plan for handling intellectual property ownership issues and their associated costs. Describe the measures to be taken to ensure that the resulting technologies provide continuing benefits for Atlantic Canada.

Project costs and financing

Provide details on the proposed project costs, wages and salaries and project financing by doing the following.

• Complete the table below and identify all sources of funding confirmed or expected, including the Atlantic Fisheries Fund contribution requested, and any in kind support.
• Provide project costs estimates (cash and in kind costs) to be covered by all sources of funding in the table.
  • For each identified source of funding, include a brief description of the project costs to be funded and the amount requested for the whole duration of the project.
  • Each organization must be listed using separate rows (for example, one organization/row).
• State any amounts owed to government in respect to taxes or government withholdings (municipal, provincial or federal).
• Provide any relevant supplier quotes.

Commercial applicants must provide:

• their independently prepared financial statements (audited or review engagement) for the last 3 fiscal years
  • these financial statements must include:
    • independent accountant’s report
    • balance sheet
    • income statement
    • statement of cash flows
    • accompanying notes to the financial statements
• complete T1 tax returns for the last 3 years for a sole proprietorship or partnership
  • NOTE: black out applicant’s social insurance number and date of birth on all tax return pages
• the latest monthly interim financial statements (which can be company prepared)
• as appendices, 3 years of financial projections for the company for the duration of the project, including:
  • balance sheets along with the accompanying key assumptions used in their preparation
  • income statements
  • statements of cash flow

Non-commercial applicants can satisfy this requirement by providing both historical and current financial statements, and detailed proof of financial commitment from key collaborators.

Commercialization strategy

This requirement is for applicable commercial applicants only.

A key component of any proposal is a:

• detailed and practical commercialization strategy
• well-defined plan for how the resulting product, process or service will be introduced to the marketplace, and how revenue will be generated

Therefore, applicants are expected to elaborate on how the commercial outcome of the project will be promoted, distributed and sold.

The commercialization strategy should include, but not be limited to:

• the need for this product
• the size of the market and the targeted niche within the market
• the potential competitors and competing products, processes or services
• the market penetration objectives and the associated major challenges
• the expertise of the team and its collaborators as relates to commercialization of new products and services in the marketplace
• independent market assessments, where possible

As a second step, based on the market niche/segments identified above, applicants must outline their vision of the revenue model. Topics for discussion should include, but not be limited to:

• the value proposition that resulting products will deliver to the end customer
• how the resulting products will achieve competitive advantage in the marketplace
• a description of the cost structure, for example:
  • will the product be competing on pricing or value
  • percentage of fixed costs vs. variable costs
  • economies of scale
• a description and rationale for anticipated revenue streams from resulting products, such as:
  • usage fees
  • sales of products
  • subscriptions
  • licensing
  • royalties

A detailed breakdown of anticipated sales and market projections by product and customer should be provided if applicable.