Extra $250m announced for R&D

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Extra $250m announced for R&D

The $250m R&D funding, announced by the Government this week, provides a major opportunity for companies that need to invest in this area to sustain their growth.

John Key announced on Tuesday funding for business research and development (R&D) will increase by more than $250m over four years.

Two of the new measures with immediate relevance to businesses were the technology development grant and the technology transfer voucher.

If your business has a focus on high value products and services, has revenue of more than $3m, and spends more than 5 per cent of it on R&D it could be eligible for a technology development grant.

If your business lacks internal R&D capability it could be eligible for a technology transfer voucher to commission research from accredited research organisations such as CRIs or universities.

If your business doesn’t meet the above criteria, it may meet the requirements for one of the existing targeted and capability grants or be able to benefit from some of the other initiatives that were announced.

For more information on the new initiatives and to find out if your business is eligible for funding please contact us.

How it will work

Technology development grants

To be eligible - a firm must spend more than 5 per cent of revenue on R&D and have revenue of more than $3m

The grant will be equal to 20 per cent of eligible expenditure of their R&D programme, up to $2.4m a year

Available for three years to give certainty and encourage additional R&D investment

The business will manage the way in which the grant is used giving flexibility and control

To be launched in October this year with $190m available over four years

Technology transfer voucher

The voucher will provide 50 per cent funding towards the businesses R&D project

Vouchers will be worth between $100,000 and $1m

To be launched in November this year as a trial with $5m available in 2010/11

We will keep you updated with more information on these initiatives as it comes to hand . As always please contact us to discuss what opportunities there may be for your business.

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