BIF Application Form

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BACKGROUND
The Botswana Innovation Fund (BIF) is a grant scheme established by the Government of Botswana to support innovation and technology advancement in the country. BIF was established through a statutory instrument in 2017 and was fully operationalized in 2018.

The Fund promotes innovation through technology, product and business development in the private sector by providing cash grants to companies registered under the BDIH as well as universities and research organization rendering services to the BDIH registered companies.

The Fund issues grants to support innovators with working prototypes to progress them towards pre-commercial level where they can attract other funding instruments, e.g. venture capital, angel investments, debt/equity from finance institutions and mentorship from net-worth individuals who are interested in the solutions.

The Botswana Innovation Fund informs innovators that starting 17 March 2023, they may now submit applications for funding on a rolling basis. This process invites all interested innovators and entrepreneurs with innovative and/or technology-driven solutions that need seed funding to apply at any time during the year.

BIF FOCUS AREAS

Botswana Innovation Fund seeks applications that address key national and or global challenges from local solutions providers. The challenges should be addressed by innovative solutions.
BIF applications place emphasis on facilitation of local Intellectual Property development and registration, innovative solutions at prototype development, technology transfer, and pre-commercialisation.

We are seeking innovative solutions that have completed Technology Readiness Level (TRL 1-3) early-stage research, and now require funding for development stages (TRL 4-6) and Pre commercialisation (TRL 7-8).

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Botswana registered companies
All entities whose project proposals shall be shortlisted will be required to register as BDIH members.
Intellectual Property shall reside in Botswana
General Selection Criteria for Projects
Solutions to address National or Global challenges
Beneficiaries to be in line with the BIF guidelines
Towards the development of working prototypes with potential registrable intellectual property post the BIF funding phase.
Projects proposals shall be with projects budget and timelines
Projects from TRL 3 (Proof of Concept) to Pre-Commercialisation (TRL 8)

Submitted proposals will be considered against the following criteria: 
Required:

Market Need

Value Proposition (a clear path towards operationalizing the product on-the-ground)

Team Composition and Roles

Customer Validation

Clear Revenue Streams

Alignment with Key Govt Objective/National Need

Social Impact Identify a specific problem/challenge statement or need

Articulation of proposed solution and approach

A cohort based approach will be used to enrol successful applicants

APPLICATION PROCESS

All applicants should complete an application form on the Jot Form Portal. Applications will not be received by hand or email.

NOTE: Botswana Innovation Fund Guidelines, application evaluation criteria and Questions & Answers are available on the BIH website (https://www.bih.co.bw/fund-guidelines/)

For further enquires please email: innovationfund@bih.co.bw
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Personal Information * This field is required.
First name
Surname
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Male
Female
Other
Gender
Please enter your email
Please enter your phone number
Company Name
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Project Information* This field is required.
Project Name
Total Funds Requested
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ICT & ICT Enabled Services
Mining Technology
Clean Technology
Bio Technology
Indigenous Knowledge Systems
Project Sector
Expected Project Duration
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Define Problem/Challenge/Opportunity* This field is required.· Briefly describe the identified opportunity and how you identified it? · What is the identified customer need/problem that this opportunity aims to address? · How is your proposed product, process or service offering going to address the identified customer problem and how does it add value considering the identified customer need.
Max words 1000
0/1000
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Unique Value Proposition* This field is required.· Provide sufficient information on why your product is better than others and what are unique features of your proposed product, process and service offering in relation to existing products, processes and/or services.
Max 700 words
0/700
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Readiness of the Solution (Stage)* This field is required.· What is the technology that underpins your solution/offering, and how does it work? · How effectively will the technology solve the customer’s problem? · Do you have demonstrations of your technology? · What is the stage of development of your technology and how close is it to market? (Drop Down Menu for stage of Development) · Who owns the idea/intellectual property? Is it a third Party?
Max 1200 words
0/1200
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Target market* This field is required.· Who would be buying your offering? (Only customer groups you realistically can sell to). · Do you have any off-take sales agreements or expression of interest from potential customers? · Is your proposed offering targeting the local and/or export market and why? · What are the activities that are still/will be required in getting your offering to the customers?
Max 900 words
0/900
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The objectives of the funding requested* This field is required.· Summarize the key activities and objectives/s for which the funding will be utilized? · What and when is this project’s endpoint (deliverable/s), and what subsequent steps and funding will be required to get your offering to the market? (to access template, click Download Template)
Please downloaded template and submit it as attachment on "supporting files or documents section".
0/700
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National/Global Benefits* This field is required.· Explain how your offering will benefit Botswana or the World.
Max 600 words
0/600
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Project Team* This field is required.Who are the key individuals who will be responsible for the development and commercialization of the offering. What are their roles?
Max 800 words
0/800
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Please upload any supporting files or documents* This field is required.For large files we recommend you upload them on other platforms such as google drives and share the links under other other information tab
Drag and drop files here
Select files to upload
Max. file size: 10.6MB
Multiple file upload is allowed. Maximum of 4 files
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Is there anything else you would like to share ?You can share link of external files here
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Unique ID
Should be Empty: