As part of the official opening of the new CCDI space, a new Design Innovation Seed Fund (DISF) was launched as part of the proceedings. The DISF is supported with seed funding from the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) and the Department of Economic Development and Tourism (DEDT).
The new fund is set to give innovation in the Western Cape a welcome boost, with the announcement today (Thursday 14 August) that designers, inventors, entrepreneurs and product developers can apply for new DISF grants of up to half a million rands each. Entrepreneurs must match 20% of the funding in cash or in-kind contributions, and apply by 15 September this year.
“The Technology Innovation Agency is excited to partner with the CCDI and Western Cape Government on the launch of the Design Innovation Seed Fund,” said Saberi Marais, TIA Business Development Manager: Western Cape and Northern Cape.
“Our intention is to provide impact, gap funding to innovators and entrepreneurs who need to address critical technical, intellectual property, market and business model questions that will inform their exploration of technological opportunities and inventions. The DISF is an ideal opportunity for inventors and entrepreneurs to apply design thinking principles to de-risk their opportunities, and bring them closer to securing follow on funding from the TIA and/ or other public and private funders.”
The seed fund grants could be used to pay for a large range of activities, said Elk. These include, but are not limited to, developing prototypes, producing market samples, undertaking market research and investigating intellectual property rights.
The funding is available to:
• Western Cape-based early-stage SMEs, entrepreneurs and researchers;
• Students at Western Cape tertiary institutions that do not already have an intellectual property claim to the product or service; and
• Pre-revenue businesses in incubation, or entering incubation, or existing SMEs with new products/innovation that are still pre-revenue.
Minister Winde said up to 14 000 jobs could be created through the Design Park (a planned Cape Town hub to test innovations) and the Design Innovation Fund. In addition, there could be more exports of design products and interest from foreign investors.
“The Design Park and the Innovation Fund will give innovators the early stage support they need to make their concepts ‘the next big thing’ by bringing their ideas to life. The potential spinoffs of design commercialisation are huge for economic growth and job creation. This initiative has the potential to put the Western Cape on the map as a world-class destination for innovation.”
