Capital Rising - Tnufa fund from Bureau of Chief Scientist
The first question a new, green, entrepreneur thould think of is this:
Is there any chance for me and my startup to get money grant from the government?
Wouldn't that be the coolest? To get some money so the startup can takeoff more easily?
Yeaa.. But if there is such thing the chances to get the money are probably so small so maybe I should not bother..
That answer is not the right one. The right one is: Yes there is, it's called Tnufa and you should bother!
Under the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Labour, the Bureau of Chief Scientist, there are these options of funding/grant:
- Tnufa
- Technological Incubators
- Seed Fund - Heznek Program
http://www.moit.gov.il/NR/exeres/52CCC0D9-98A0-4A31-A3C4-0A7CEDF5944C.htm
http://www.moital.gov.il/NR/exeres/2F9931BD-7695-4FAD-9A54-950A1E99B3F8.htm
Today I'll give some details about "Tnufa".
Tnufa is a great program that is designed to give the opportunity for a new entrepreneur (or a new company) to get started.
The grant for this program is 85% of the approved costs up to a maximum of 210,000 NIS (Approx. $47,000).
It has to be in the initial stage of the company:
- For entrepreneur that has not even started a company
- For company that was just founded
This money supposed to go to:
- Patenting (ususaly this costs 10,000$)
- Creating a business plan
- Creating the product prototype
- Some marketing maybe
- An Exhibition
The cool thing about it that (besides the fact that there is a good chance to get it) is that It is pretty easy to apply and they should return their answer in 60 days!
They say, it is the easiest money a startup can get. I don't know about that, but the first thing I done was to applying for this grant.
It took me quite a while to fill the forms - about 2.5 months (by the way, here they are: link).
Tip: To fill the forms in the best way you can is extremely important: they will probably be the primary factor for the decision. Use advisors from MATI, they know what they are doing.
A week after dropping the documents in their office I have already got an invitation for an interview with a professional inspector. So last Tuesday I attended a meeting with this inspector. We talked about 2 hours. At the end I got a homework to do: some questions to answer. It took me another week to write a proper answer and now it is, as some say, in gods hands...
A small tip: They don't write it, but when they approve your request they usually give you only at start 100,000 NIS. After you spend the 85% of it you can apply for the rest. There are 2 key factors:
- You should show and prove your progress according to the road map you gave the Tnufa committee.
- You have to prove them that their money is crucial for the firm's success.
Hope this helps,
Vladi