SCOTTISH ENTERPRISE
PROOF OF CONCEPT PROGRAMME
STAGE 1 APPLICATION GUIDELINES
January 2013
For further advice:
Please email [email protected], or request the Proof of Concept team on 0845 607
8787.
www.scottish-enterprise.com/proofofconcept
Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme – Application Guidelines
1.
Introduction
1.1
Background to the Proof of Concept Programme
Proof of Concept Programme (PoCP) supports the pre-commercialisation of leadingedge technologies emerging from Scotland's Universities, Research Institutes and
NHS Boards. It helps researchers to export their ideas and inventions from the lab to
the global marketplace. PoCP applications can only be submitted by the institution
commercialisation office and cannot be accepted from individual academics, schools,
departments or faculties.
The anticipated outcomes from a PoCP are a licence of all the background and
foreground intellectual assets associated with the Project to either an existing
Scottish company or the creation of a spin-out company. The purpose of PoCP is to
assist existing, or create new, high-growth companies based in Scotland with the
potential and capability to grow to companies of scale. For the purposes of this
Programme, Scottish Enterprise (SE) defines high growth as having the potential to
achieve at least £5 million additional turnover per annum or the attraction of at least
£10 million commercial investment within 5 years of trading as a direct result of
licensing the intellectual assets which arise from supported projects.
Projects can typically be defined as occurring at the stage after advances have been
made during curiosity-driven or strategic research (Technology Readiness Level 3
and 4). The Programme finances projects with strong commercialisation potential
and is not another source of research funding. Naturally, many of these projects
contain a high element of risk. In funding the projects, SE is committing a significant
amount of resource (both in financial and personnel terms) to enable the projects to
realise their potential. As such, we have a rigorous assessment process as described
in this document.
Full details of the PoCP and application materials can be found on the Proof of
Concept section of the SE website: www.scottish-enterprise.com/proofofconcept.
During 2013, applications for potential PoCP projects will only be accepted at specific
Call dates (as published on the SE website). The only exception to this will be
projects which support the renewables sector – these projects can be brought
forward to SE at any time. It is important that potential PoCP applications are
discussed at the earliest stage with the Technology Transfer or Commercialisation
officers of the applicant’s institution.
1.2 STAGE 1 Application
Question
Project Title
Lead Organisation
Guidelines
Provide a non-confidential descriptive title of the proposal i.e. which can be
published, at SE’s discretion, on the PoCP website without prejudicing IPR.
The title should be brief and be worded to engage and enthuse non-specialist
readers, i.e. suitable for marketing purposes for the project.
(15 words maximum)
If your institution does not have a confidentiality agreement in place with SE,
please contact the Proof of Concept team at 0845 607 8787 or
[email protected] to arrange for an agreement to be put in place.
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Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme – Application Guidelines
Collaborative
Organisation(s)
If the collaborating institution does not have a confidentiality agreement in
place with SE please contact the Proof of Concept team at 0845 607 8787 or
[email protected] to arrange for an agreement to be put in place.
Collaborations can only take place with Scottish institutions with which
confidentiality agreements are in place.
Business Sector
Select the relevant Business Sector. If your application cuts across business
sectors, please indicate the main initial market here.
Total Amount
Requested
This at stage 1 is only an estimate and we recognise that it may change prior to
a stage 2 application being submitted.
Commencement
Date of Project
Please enter the expected commencement date of the project in dd/mm/yy
format, taking into account the time necessary to build and appraise the proejct
prior to stage 2 application and the conclusion of contractual conditions
between SE and your institution.
Requested Project
Duration
Correspondence
details
Please enter the expected project duration in months.
Contact Details
Enter the name, email address and phone number for the Principal Investigator
and any Co-Investigators.
Other SE Support
A Principal Investigator may only have one PoCP in implementation at any one
time. Confirm here if the PI is currently receiving any other SE support or
another proposal is being evaluated.
Resubmission
The same technical approach can only be resubmitted once. Note here if the
idea has been evaluated in the past.
Indicate the name, postal address, email, phone and fax numbers of the
commercialisation contact responsible for submitting the application (this
person will receive any documents/written communications in relation to the
project’s assessment), as well as an additional address for legal
correspondence.
Project Commercial Potential
Question
1. Brief
Description of
Project
Guidelines
Describe what specific problem it is that your solution solves. Describe the TRL
that the technology will have reached when the project begins in ~3 months time
and what will be achieved in terms of getting it ready for market by the end of the
project. Describe what will actually be done during the project. Make clear if
there are regulations such as clinical trials or CE marking etc. or legislation that
affect your ability to trade or secure further investment.
(150 words maximum)
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Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme – Application Guidelines
2. Market Size &
economic
impact of project
3. The
Technology
4. The Team
5. The Vision
We are not seeking a top down view of the size of the opportunity. What we
would like to understand is what segment of the market is directly addressable
by the technology that will be available to be licensed. This question requests
that you estimate how many customers globally there are and have a rough idea
of what will be the selling price of your product or service. All PoCP projects
must have the potential to achieve turnover of £5m or secure external
investment upwards of £10m within 5 years of the PoCP concluding. Some
technologies address an opportunity that creates a new market. In other cases,
there is an existing solution for the problem and the technology proposed has a
compelling sustainable advantage that will displace the incumbent. If
appropriate, you may mention any existing support for your approach from
potential customers. Alternatively and additionally, you may provide examples of
companies similar to the company you aspire to create that have achieved high
growth addressing this market. At this stage of the application process, we are
looking for you to demonstrate that you understand who your competitors are
and more importantly who will you be selling to.
(150 words maximum)
This is the opportunity to describe the background IP and what foreground IP is
anticipated to be created. What is going to be licensed? What underpins the
commercial potential of the project? Do not describe the detail of how the
technology works at this stage.
(100 words maximum)
What personnel resources are required to implement the project – have they
been identified? Highlight whether any of the technical team have a desire to
join the company to which the assets will be licensed. Describe who will
champion the commercial development of your PoCP and how you will recruit
them.
(100 words maximum)
PoCP supports proposals from those with the ambition to grow a large company
quickly. This is the opportunity to describe this aspiration and how it will be
achieved.
(100 words maximum)
Upon submission of your Application, SE will assess the commercial potential of all
proposals received at each Call date on a competitive basis. The commercial
assessment will be undertaken by a panel (all under confidentiality arrangements)
constituting:
a) an external investor
b) a GlobalScot who has experience of the market into which the proposed
product or service will be sold
c) a Project Manager from SE’s Commercialisation Team
d) a member of the SE High Growth Start Up Unit
e) a sector market analyst from SE
This group will meet as a panel to review the completed applications in each sector.
A consensus will be required across the panel in order for proposals to more forward
to the 2nd phase of development and application.
In the event that the commercial proposition is not supported by the panel the
proposal will be rejected and feedback provided. A new application for the same
subject matter can be submitted to a future Call. Only one resubmission will be
accepted.
If the commercial potential of the approach is evaluated to be of an acceptable level
of risk and therefore merits further assessment, the application will proceed into the
next stage of development. A significant resource commitment by the institution will
be required at this stage of assessment.
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Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme – Application Guidelines
A SE Project Manager (PM) and Commercial Contractor will be assigned to work with
the project team to help build the project and gather the additional information
required to allow a full application to be considered by the published panel date. A
Commercial Contractor is someone with substantial background in business and
technology who helps to facilitate the commercial outcome of a project.
Due diligence will examine the project in more detail to ensure that appropriate
resources and strategies are in place for the completion of the project and the
achievement of the expected commercial outcome. This will include:
 Commercial assurance, for which SE will provide resources, will ideally be
undertaken by someone who will remain with the team during the
implementation phase.
o If existing members of the proposed PoCP project team are unable to
undertake this task or someone with the correct skill set cannot be
recruited, it may be possible to undertake the commercial assurance
work via a tightly controlled market assessment using a commercial
vendor but this should be considered a secondary option. SE will only
provide 50% of the cost if an external market survey is required.
 SE will require evidence of the institution’s “freedom to operate” in
commercialising the proposed technology.
 SE will provide resources, where deemed necessary, to an R&D advisor to
undertake technical diligence.
 The proposal may be terminated at any point during this phase if the PM or
Commercial Contractor believe the information gathered does not support the
case for a PoCP project.
 A commercial champion should ideally be in place, or identified, during the
project building phase. If this is not possible, the profile and plan to recruit
this person with acceptable timescales should be included in the full
application.
The project building phase will result in either a full application being submitted
(including project plan, milestones, budget and feasibility assessment) that is fully
endorsed by the PM and Commercial Contractor, or a termination. A schedule of
project milestones will be agreed during the Due Diligence process. The milestones
schedule will spell out specific and, where possible, quantified targets to define
precisely what the criteria are, by which a decision can be taken to carry on with the
project or discontinue it.
STAGE 2 – Full Application –
On satisfactory progress with the development of your project, your project manager
will indicate whether you have sufficient data to submit a 2nd stage application.
Where this is the case, the application can be found on SE’s website together with
guidelines for stage 2.
STAGE 3 - Panel Assessment - panels will be convened at set times to evaluate the
fully worked up. Those proposals that are not ready for this date will have to wait
another 3-4 months until the next panel. Where possible, panels will be composed of
the same assessors as in Stage 1. The result will be a yes/no decision. Applicants
and commercialisation support staff will be invited to attend an interview with the
panel. Applicants will be required to give a short presentation on their project. Panel
members will have considered the full application, commercial assurance, and
feasibility reports prior to the interview.
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Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme – Application Guidelines
STAGE 4 – Recommendation for Funding - Projects which result in a
recommendation for award will be submitted to the Director of Commercialisation
within SE (or higher level approval body if the project cost exceeds £500k) to seek
approval for the relevant funding allocation. It is only once approval has been
obtained that an offer of grant can be provided and there is no legal obligation on
either party in advance of that contract being put in place. On commencement, each
PoCP project will be supported by a Commercialisation Contractor and an SE Project
Manager who will provide support and is the link between the project team,
commercialisation contractor and SE’s commercialisation team.
1.3
Confidentiality
Submissions to PoCP are highly confidential and commercially valuable. Please
ensure that all drafts are clearly labelled as confidential.
As part of the PoCP’s application and award process, SE has entered into
agreements with various institutions containing obligations of confidentiality in
relation to information received at any point during the application, award or project
management stages. Any individual involved with the Proof of Concept Programme
in the assessment of applications and/or the facilitation of awarded projects has
similarly entered into an agreement with Scottish Enterprise which imposes
obligations of confidentiality on them. For Scottish Enterprise staff, this is addressed
within employment terms which carry a duty of confidentiality; for contractors it is
addressed within the terms and conditions of the contract award. Where an external
assessor is used out with this group i.e. GlobalScot network, a separate
confidentiality agreement will be put in place prior to the individual having sight of any
paperwork.
1.4
Eligibility
1.4.1
Key Industry Sector/Other Emerging Technologies
Applications to the Proof of Concept Programme should be submitted against one of
the following key sector headings. In general the choice of heading should reflect the
key market sector that commercialisation of the proposed innovation is expected to
address in the first instance i.e. the industry in which the target purchasers or endusers of the new innovation will be found:
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Aerospace, Defence and Marine
Chemical Sciences
Construction
Creative Technologies
Energy – Oil and Gas
Energy – Power Generation and Renewable Energy
Financial Services
Food and Drink
Forest and timber technologies
Life Sciences – Med-Tech
Life Sciences – Platforms and Therapeutics
Manufacturing
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Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme – Application Guidelines

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Technology
Textiles
Tourism
Other Emerging Technologies – for innovative technologies that fall out
with these areas
Your application should demonstrate a good understanding of the development
priorities in the industry sector you plan to address and also show how the proposed
innovative concept and the project will develop a commercial outcome which directly
addresses those priorities.
1.4.2
Institutions
Universities, Research Institutes and NHS Boards of Scotland are eligible to submit
proposals to the PoCP.
1.4.3
Collaborations
Applications from a collaboration of two or more Scottish institutions are welcomed
but the application must make clear which single institution will act as lead institution
for the collaboration. Also, a clear collaboration agreement must be in place between
the collaborating partners before any project is funded or commences. Collaborations
can only be between Scottish institutions, each of whom is eligible in their own right
to apply to the PoCP.
1.4.4
Sub-contracts
If the successful achievement of a project would clearly benefit from the involvement
of a third party organisation who would not qualify as an eligible collaborator on the
project (e.g. a non-Scottish academic institution or a commercial company) then this
may be achieved by a sub-contract. The reasonable costs of a sub-contract can be
included in the eligible costs for PoCP funding provided that the total value of all subcontracts does not typically exceed 20% of the total project value, there is full
disclosure of any common interests between the project team and proposed subcontracted suppliers and all applicable rules of procurement and competitive
tendering have been followed to ensure that the chosen sub-contractor’s offering is
demonstrably the best value for money.
1.5
Approval by Applicant Institution
If your application has not been endorsed by your institution’s local approval process,
it will not be considered for the PoCP. Approval must be sought from the
Commercialisation or Technology Transfer Office of your institution which is
responsible for co-ordinating and submitting applications to the PoCP and from the
Principal, Director or Chief Executive of your institution. To enable this, applications
should be submitted by a member of your institution’s commercialisation or
technology transfer staff, and not by research staff. Any applications received directly
from research staff will be returned and you may miss the deadline for a Call as a
result.
1.6
Equal Opportunities
Scottish Enterprise is committed to achieving Equal Opportunities. Principal
Investigators applying to the Programme may be invited to complete a short
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Scottish Enterprise Proof of Concept Programme – Application Guidelines
questionnaire for equal opportunities monitoring purposes after their application has
been received. This data will be held securely and anonymously in a separate
location from the application and will be used for Equal Opportunities monitoring
purposes only.
1.7
State Aids
PoCP funding is provided on the basis that it does not constitute State Aid. Therefore
the money must not be used in such a way as to create a competitive advantage for
any commercial venture, during the period of the PoCP funding.
This does not prevent a company from acting as a subcontractor in a project
provided that no direct competitive advantage accrues to the company and any IP
generated as a result of work carried out under the subcontract is owned solely by
the Higher Education Institute, Research Institute or NHS Board with no restrictions
on how they deal with it. All sub-contracts or any other procurement by a PoCPfunded project must comply with the institution’s rules on procurement and
competitive tendering. It is expected that the applicant institutions rules and
procedures on these matters will be similar to SE’s own but, for the avoidance of
doubt, the minimum standard of best practice in these matters is the equivalent of
SE’s own procedures.
If there is any doubt, in the first instance the applicants should contact their
commercialisation contact within the institution.
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