Take-off is a new NWO programme open to all disciplines, aiming at facilitating and encouraging commercial and entrepreneurial activities initiated at Dutch universities. The programme wants to stimulate the creation of innovative commercial activities emerging from knowledge development and utilisation by academic entrepreneurs. Proposals should be submitted before Wednesday 1 October 2014.
Valuable research results might remain unused as knowledge and innovation have a hard way finding their way to the market. New innovational businesses need funding to be able to bridge the gap between research and the market. The bottle-neck is this so-called early phase financing: private investors and banks find it too great a risk to invest in this idea- and planning phase. The NWO programme Take-off bridges this ‘funding gap’ in the early phase of an enterprise. It consists of two connected parts: feasibility studies and an early phase trajectory.
A feasibility study leads to a report of the starters’ possibilities. An early phase trajectory carries out all steps needed to make a knowledge innovation commercially viable, such as e.g. a production process, market research, marketing- and financial plan. The aim is that by the end of this project, others – such as private parties – invest in the follow-up steps.
