In October 2011, RETRACTION Limited secured from the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region People’s Republic of China [HKSAR] under The Innovation and Technology Fund’s [ITF] Small Entrepreneur Research Assistance Programme [SERAP].
The ITF was established by the Government of HKSAR to provide funding support to projects that contribute to innovation and technology by upgrading local industry, thereby helping to increase the value of productivity and competitiveness of Hong Kong’s economy.
Formed in 1999 by the ITF, with an initial fund of HK$5 billion (~US$640 million) SERAP, is a technology entrepreneur fund that aims to provide funding on a dollar-for-dollar matched basis to small, technology based and entrepreneur-driven companies undertaking projects that: –
(a) are innovative and have a high technology component; and
(b) have a reasonable chance of being successfully brought to the market.
Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article do not reflect the views of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, the Innovation and Technology Commission or the SERAP or ESS Project Assessment Panel.
The Enterprise Support Scheme (ESS) has now replaced SERAP. This is another major funding initiative under the ITF, which is designed to encourage the private sector to invest more in R&D. This scheme differs from its predecessors as the funding support of each approved project is up to USD $1.25 million and is be provided on a dollar-for-dollar matched basis. Furthermore, the funding recipient company will own all intellectual property rights arising from the project and recoupment of Government’s contribution is not required.
The HKSAR Government goes even further, in that the funding recipient company can also apply for the Research and Development Cash Rebate Scheme to receive a cash rebate of up to 40% of the company’s expenditure in the project.
An exciting future potential source of funds for innovative Hong Kong based SME’s!