Innovation Vouchers (IVs) are simple financial incentive, used by companies to cover part of the costs of the services provided by research and development (R&D) organizations. The development of new products and services is directly related to the innovation process, and IVs are a way to enable the transfer of knowledge and to contribute to the creation of long-term partnerships between companies and R&D.

The aim of the IVs is to financially incentivize companies to collaborate with R&D organizations in research and development om order to make their products more competitive on the market.

Conditions for participation

Eligible companies - users of the IVs are private sector (at least 51% privately owned) micro, small and medium size companies registered in Serbia. The company must be a legal business entity incorporated under the current Company Law Serbia, registered at Serbian Business Registration Agency and located in Serbia.

Eligible companies that satisfy all the criteria can apply for IVs to cover costs of the services provided by any of the two categories of R&D organizations:

• public sector R&D organizations registered in Serbia (at least 51% directly or indirectly owned by the state);
• organizations accredited by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development to conduct R&D (including privately owned R&D organizations). List of organizations in Serbia accredited to conduct R&D is available at the link.

Typical eligible service providers are universities, faculties, research institutes, innovation centres and other R&D organizations in Serbia that fall under any of the two categories of eligible R&D organizations.

Funded services

The IVs can be used for the transfer of knowledge - scientific, technological or innovative, which is novel to the company, or for solving of a technical / technological problem that company nominates. IV is awarded for the following services:

• Development of new or improvement of existing products (related to function and quality), processes or services;
• Proof of concept;
• Feasibility study;
• Production of laboratory prototypes;
• Creation of demonstration prototypes;
• Various types of testing (in the laboratory, at the pilot plant);
• Technology validation;
• Validation of new or improved products, processes or services;
• Innovation advisory services;
• Development and implementation of specific product- or process-related software (as part of product development);
• Techno-economic analysis in connection with the provided service. Up to 20% of the IV value may be used for this purpose;
• Specific professional training related to the development of a technological solution. A maximum of 20% of the value of the innovation voucher can be planned for these purposes.

The IVs cannot be used for:

• Creation of Business plans and economic appraisals;
• Sales activities;
• Standard website or mobile application development;
• Activities such as market research and analysis (product-market fit);
• Non-consultancy services already available on the market (ISO standardization, technical attests…);
• Activities already financed through another framework, programme or company/institution;
• Travel, conferences or purchase of equipment;
• Services provided by ineligible R&D service providers (which do not meet the above-mentioned eligibility criteria for the R&D service providers).

Financing

Innovation voucher will cover 60% of the total service costs, up to RSD 800.000 exclusive of Value Added Tax (VAT). Companies have to co-finance remaining amount of the total service costs. VAT is not financed by the IV and, where applicable, VAT has to be paid for the total service costs by the company to the R&D organizations who provided the service under an approved IV, when applicable.

One company may be granted several innovation vouchers in the total maximum amount of up to 2,400,000 dinars (including previously used innovation vouchers).

If the company has used innovation vouchers in the maximum value of up to 2,400,000 dinars, it is not eligible to apply.

In case the application for an innovation voucher is rejected, it is possible to submit a new application.

An approved innovation voucher must be used within a maximum period of six (6) months.

Filing an application

Application for IV consists of three parts:

• R&D service request formulated by the company (the applicant) filled in on the IV portal;
• Financial offer by the R&D organization (R&D service provider) related to the R&D service request (uploaded as PDF to the IV portal);
• Accepting the terms and conditions of the IV scheme (filled directly on the IV portal).

Financial offer must contain the following elements:

• Technical problem specification for the requested service;
• Name of the R&D organization and the contact person responsible for requested service;
• Financial offer for services with VAT presented as a separate cost if the R&D organization is in VAT system;
• Breakdown of the service costs to up to three categories:
  • Human resources costs including the names of the service provider’s staff engaged and the duration of their engagement;
  • Consumables costs;
  • Equipment use/rental costs;
• Completion date of the requested service;
• Validity of the offer (minimum of 30 days).

Financial offer must be signed by the official representative of the R&D organization. The service request is inserted directly on the portal, while the financial offer from the R&D service provider needs to be uploaded as a separate document in PDF format.

After registration, filling in the request for the service, setting the financial offer and accepting the conditions of the innovation voucher scheme, it is necessary to click the "Send" option, in order for the application to be successfully submitted.

IV can be awarded for all fields of science and technology and for any area of industry.

However, please keep in mind that IV scheme is aligned with the Smart Specialization Strategy of the Republic of Serbia for the period from 2020 until 2027, which focuses on four main priority domains:

• Food for future;
• Information and communication technologies;
• Machines and production processes of the future;
• Creative industries.

At least 70% of Innovation Fund (IF)’s available funding for the call for proposals will be allocated for applications in the above-mentioned priority domains, while a maximum of 30% will be allocated for other applications originating in non-priority domains.

The awarding of innovation vouchers will take place in the order of the received applications, starting from the day of publishing the public call.

The application for innovation vouchers can be submitted starting from July 13th, 2023 until the funds are allocated.

Incomplete applications, as well as applications that have not been submitted in electronic form on the portal of the Innovation Fund, ie applications that have been submitted in printed form will not be considered.

Application documentation is listed on the Documentation page

Please use the following application link: https://secure.inovacionifond.rs/Vouchers/

Contact: ivauceri@inovacionifond.rs

Funds for the implementation of innovation vouchers in a total of 120.000.000 dinars have been provided from the budget of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for 2023 from the Ministry of Science, Technological Development and Innovation.

For further information, please visit the source page of this announcement.