Tatarstan actively participates in federal programmes to support and develop innovative business. In particular, it interacts with the Foundation for Assistance to Small Innovative Enterprises (FASIE), a state non-profit organization that has been providing assistance to progressive entrepreneurial ideas for 27 years. So, over the past year, entrepreneurs and young researchers of the republic received about 700 million rubles in the form of grants.
The money is used for various purposes: implementation of an idea, business expansion, and others. In total, since 2016, more than 500 Tatarstan projects have received grants from the FASIE. The annual turnover of the winning companies of the competition is tens, hundreds of millions of rubles, and for some it even reaches a billion rubles!
How much intellectual capital costs today and who can monetize it is in our material.
A path from “UMNIK” to “Start” with a good recharge
The Foundation for Assistance to Innovation solves a problem of developing high-tech business on the basis of the scientific groundwork of domestic developers. It is important that the contests are formed according to the development level of companies. So, for innovators who are just at the beginning of their journey, there is a competition “UMNIK” (an abbreviation of “Participant of the youth scientific and innovative competition”). Young scientists, students of Tatarstan universities from 18 to 30 years old, who are just launching their project, can apply here and apply for half a million rubles for two years.
In fact, the grant allows young scientists not to look for additional sources of income while working on a project, for example, within the framework of a thesis or PhD work. The intellectual property developed by a winner must belong to him. And in the case of carrying out research and development using the material and technical base of educational or scientific organizations, the applicant has the right to conclude an agreement with this organization on the procedure for the distribution of rights to the created intellectual property.
Grants under the programme “UMNIK” are not randomly provided to young people under 30 years of age. In the opinion of the FASIE management, older people should set themselves more serious tasks, both in scientific and commercial terms. After the successful completion of the programme “UMNIK”, the Foundation invites companies to participate in the programme “Start”, which at the first stages is focused on deepening and developing research work, and then focuses on the commercialization of the result.
The first stage of the “Start”, as in the programme “UMNIK”, is to conduct R&D, but the amount for it can already reach 3 million rubles for a period of 1 year. And it is also irrevocable, but accountable. At the second stage of the programme (a competition “Start-2”), winners receive a grant of up to 7 million rubles.
Thus, the main goal of the FASIE programmes is the development of knowledge-intensive small business in the territory of the Russian Federation.
A result of cooperation is a victory of Tatarstan projects
Thanks to the close long-term cooperation between the Republic of Tatarstan and FASIE, in 2016 the President of the Republic Rustam Minnikhanov and Director of the Foundation for Assistance to Innovation Sergey Polyakov signed an agreement on cooperation. It defines the Ministry of Economy of the Republic of Tatarstan as the responsible organization for the coordination of this agreement on the part of the Republic. In turn, the Technopark “Idea” became the base platform of the regional representative office of the Foundation in Tatarstan.
The Foundation for Assistance to Innovation has formed a network of representatives in 75 regions of Russia. They contribute to the popularization of the FASIE programmes free of charge and advise participants of competitions.
Technopark “Idea” is a development institute and a base platform of the regional representation of the Foundation in Tatarstan. Also, for the fourth year in a row, the Technopark is among the innovative facilities with the highest level of efficiency, according to the rating of the Association of Clusters, Technoparks and special economic zones of Russia.
“Idea” informs potential participants about the FASIE programmes, advises on the application process, conducts webinars on frequently asked questions of the programme “UMNIK”, and accompanies on the way of project implementation. This service is free for all participants.
The result of this interaction is the victory of the Tatarstan projects. At the same time, the decision on financing projects is made in Moscow, based on the results of an assessment by an independent commission of experts created by the Foundation.
A model for medical universities and recycling sleepers: innovations have a female face
Among the winners of the programme “UMNIK” is Layisan Saleeva from Kazan State Medical University. Laysan has developed a simulator model with dental deposits, on which medical students learn to remove plaque. With the funds from the programme, she just created such simulator devices that are used by many Russian students. New models are now being made for practicing anesthesia skills with a soft gum, models for tooth extraction and even small models for simulating the replacement bite of children.
Milyausha Khairullina received the grant from the Foundation twice. She develops new methods of recycling sleepers: “I won the competition for the programme “UMNIK” in 2017. It was my first serious victory in competitions of this level. The grant of 500 thousand rubles allowed me to fully carry out scientific research on the topic of the project and bring it to a new level. Remembering the programme, I can say that “UMNIK” was a necessary initial springboard for my development, for which I am grateful”.
In 2019, Milyausha successfully completed the pre-acceleration programme at the Technopark “Idea”. And in 2020, she participated in the free programme “At the START! Attention! March!”, which was also organized by the Technopark “Idea”. “Within the framework of this programme, representatives of the Technopark provided me and my team with great help and support in preparing an application for a grant from the FASIE under the programme “START-1”, - noted inventor. - A result was the victory of my project in the competition. With these funds, my team and I are going through the second stage of the programme “START-1”: we are developing and creating a semi-industrial plant that allows us to process used wooden sleepers by rapid conductive pyrolysis into marketable products”.
The FASIE opportunities for financial support are large-scale
The programme “Development” is aimed at supporting companies that already have experience in developing and selling their own high-tech products and are planning to develop and master new types of products. Among them is a company “Techautomatics”. The company is developing a hardware and software analytical complex capable of modeling and predicting signs of local technogenic environmental indicators based on neural network algorithms and deep learning. According to Alexander Chumarzov, Director of “Techautomatics”, thanks to the grant support of the Foundation for Assistance to Innovation, the company is already implementing pilot projects in 4 regions of the Russian Federation and Kazakhstan, Mexico City (Mexico). In addition, the company develops unique sensors and fuel level indicators, as well as gas analyzers. The annual turnover of the company exceeds 300 million rubles.
“Now a large amount of work is being carried out by the enterprise itself. However, our plans are to localize full-cycle production at our site. That is why we have applied for the programme “Commercialization”, a victory in which will be an important step for this”, - said Alexander Chumarzov.
Acting representative of the Foundation for Assistance to Innovation in Tatarstan, CEO of the Technopark “Idea” Oleg Ibragimov noted that the FASIE has the opportunity to financial support, including for Tatarstan companies.
“Considering that the FASIE capabilities are large-scale, I invite companies of our republic to actively submit applications and take part in the Foundation’s competitions. These are good funds that can become an additional catalyst for business development. For our part, the Technopark specialists are ready to advise those who wish. The consultation is free of charge and is one of our areas of work”.
Now the Technopark “Idea” is actively accepting applications for more than 10 programmes and competitions of the FASIE. You can clarify the details and submit an application on the website https://fasie.ru / or by phone: +7 (843) 570-68-50 ext.93-41, 93-24
