Call For Proposal

SPARSH being the Social Innovation  program of BIRAC, always endeavour  to bring in high impact to the neglected section of the population. Global population ageing is a challenge which needs to be addressed. Especially in developing countries population ageing changes the nature of demands on health care systems. The public healthcare system has to accommodate the needs of the older population and needs a revamping to address the associated challenges.

SPARSH  fourth  call  specifically  targets  the  challenges  associated  with  “Ageing  and Health” and invites “letter of Intent” for the innovative products and technologies for strengthening this sector.

Sparsh objectives

1.  Identify and provide support to cutting edge innovations towards affordable product development  that can bring significant  social impact  and address  challenges  of inclusive growth.  

2.  Provide  support  in  form  of impact  funding  of  biotech  product  innovations (with

social goals) that can be scaled.

3. Create and foster a pool of social innovators in biotech and provide a platform to share best practices, understand intricacies of business models in social innovation and network.

Application Directions

The call is open for Affordable Product Development (APD) and Social Innovation Immersion program (SIIP). The requirements for both the components are different and mentioned in different sections of this document.

Component I: Affordable Product Development

The APD Component includes three categories as mentioned below

Category A: Idea to proof of concept (PoC)

Proposals are invited for taking an Idea to PoC, which is at an ideation or nascent stage and that would aim to bridge significant challenges in the socially relevant area.

Funding  Support:  Grant‐in‐aid  assistance  up  to  Rs.  50  lakhs  for  a  period  up  to  18 months

Eligibility: This category is open to:

‐       Biotechnology  Indian start‐ups  (Incorporated  under the Indian Companies  Act and having a minimum of 51% Indian Ownership) (Less than 3 years old as on the date of advertisement)/Indian  entrepreneurs (Indian citizen willing to form a Company as per Indian Law).

‐       Limited  Liability  Partnership  (LLP)  incorporated  under  the  Limited  Liability Partnership Act, 2008 (less than three years old as on the date of advertisement) having a minimum half of the persons who subscribed their names to the LLP document as its Partners should be Indian citizens.

‐       Indian   Academic    Scientists,    Researchers,    PhDs,   Medical    Degree   Holders, Biomedical Engg Graduates (who must be willing to incubate in a business incubator)

‐       No DSIR certification is required

Category B: Proof of Concept to Validation

Proposals are invited in various areas which have crossed the ideation and PoC and are in the stage of need for validation.

Funding Support: Grant‐in‐aid up to 50 Lakhs over the period up to 24 months

Eligibility: This category is open to:

FOR COMPANIES (For profit/ nor for Profit)

·     Incorporated under the Indian Companies Act having a minimum of 51% Indian

ownership.

·     DSIR recognition.

FOR LIMITED LIABILITY PARTNERSHIP

·     Limited  Liability  Partnership  (LLP)  incorporated  under  the  Limited  Liability Partnership  Act,  2008  having  a minimum  half  of the persons  who subscribed their names to the LLP document as its Partners should be Indian citizens.

·     The Applicant should own the background Intellectual Property based on which the proposal is made.

FOR INDIAN INSTITUTION/ UNIVERSITIES/ PUBLIC RESEARCH ORGANIZATION WHO CAN BECOME CO‐APPLICANTS ALONG WITH THE COMPANY/LLP AS MAIN APPLICANT

Established in India and having NAAC/ UGC/ AICTE or any equivalent recognition certificate.

FOR  PARTNERSHIP  FIRMS/  SOCIETY/  TRUST/  NGO/  FOUNDATION/  ASSOCIATION WHO CAN BECOME CO‐APPLICANTS ALONG WITH THE COMPANY/LLP AS MAIN APPLICANT

Partnership Firms/ Society/ Trust/ NGO/ Foundation/ Association established in India under  the  relevant  Indian  Law  having  at  least  half  of  the  stakeholders  (partners/ trustees/ members/ associates etc) as Indians.

NOTE:  Applicants  and  Co‐  applicants  should  not  have  any  other  legal disqualification  that will prohibit them from participating in the scheme process and execution of necessary agreements thereafter.

Category C: Access to innovative pilot scale delivery models

Proposals are invited for Implementation of delivery models of innovative products and services pertaining to Ageing and health (which have gained necessary regulatory approvals) and services that can show positive social impact, sustainability of the operations and potential for scale up in the near to medium term.

Funding   Support:   Grant‐in‐aid   for  a  period   up  to  24  months.   The  project   cost sanctioned for the Company would be matched equally by BIRAC and the Company.

Eligibility: This category is open to:

FOR COMPANIES (For profit/ nor for Profit)

‐       Incorporated under the Indian Companies Act having a minimum of 51% Indian ownership.

‐       DSIR recognition

‐       The  product   should   have  gained   necessary   approvals   from  the  concerned

regulatory authority (‐ies) for pilot studies.

‐       It  is  desirous  that  the  projects  show  partnership  or  a  consortium  between product/service innovator Company, an implementer/deployer (Research Foundations, Section 25 companies etc) and clinical partner(s). Any such Partner

for execution/implementation can become Co‐Applicant in the proposal. Co‐ Applicant should have been established as a legal entity under the relevant Law of India having at least half of the stakeholders (owners/partners/ trustees/ members/ associates etc) as Indians. Local/state/ Central Departments can also become part of the execution/ implementation/ survey etc.

Component II: Social Innovation Immersion Program (SIIP)

SIIP is a fellowship scheme under SPARSH which intends to create a pool of social innovators in the biotech arena who can identify specific needs and gaps in healthcare of different communities which can then be bridged and serviced through innovative product development and services.

To encourage researchers to understand the milieu of Ageing and Health and generate pipeline  of  possible  technologies  in  this  arena,  BIRAC  invites  proposals  from organisations  such as venture   centres, , Foundations,  Technology Centres, Incubators, Public Research Institutions, Private Research Institutions, Public & Private Hospital to initiate and operationalize a structured 18 months of social innovation immersion programme.

The  SIIP  partner  will  be  responsible  for  training  the  Social  Innovation  Fellows  on process of systematic clinical & Community observation,  needs assessment and refinement,   affordable   technology   development   &  Commercialization,   market   and industry research and enabling rural / remote settings. For these aspects it is expected from  SIIP  partners   to  have  clinical   and  rural  partners   and  mentors   of  primary, secondary and tertiary Healthcare levels.

The need identification could be through immersion and embedding the fellows with clinicians  and/or  rural  communities.  The  SIIP  fellows  will  receive  a fellowship  from BIRAC (amounting to INR 35,000 – 50,000/month) and a mini‐kickstart grant of INR 5 lakhs per fellow.

Successful fellows in this programme are expected to be graduates and postgraduates from Lifesciences, Biotechnology, Biomedical, Medicine and Engineering background.

Objective of SIIP programme:

The primary objective of SIIP is to create a pool of biotech “Social Innovators” who can identify  needs  & gaps  within  communities  and  then  can  help  bridge  the gaps  either through an innovative product development  or services. This program is envisaged to be  operationalised  with  partners  (academic  technology  centers,  business  incubators and related organizations) who help provide a whole host of technical, business and Marketing mentoring to the fellows.

Eligibility Criteria for SIIP Partners

The Applicant venture   centers, Foundations, Technology Centers, Incubators, Public Research  Institutions,  Private  Research  Institutions,  Public  & Private  Hospital  should have been established as a legal entity under the relevant Law of India having at least half  of  the  stakeholders  (owners/partners/   trustees/  members/  associates  etc)  as Indians. It is desirous that the applicant organisation have

a.             A clinical partner for facilitating need identification. b.             Experts who can provide mentorship to fellows

Operational Elements & Workplan of SIIP:

The overall administrative responsibility of the SIIP would rest on the partnering organization  which  would  operationalize  the  programme  (henceforth  referred  to  as BIRAC SIIP Partner).

The following is a suggested work flow for SIIP, which will also act as the Milestones and  Deliverables  for  SIIP.  The  formal  18  months  of  the  SIIP  will  start  from  Pre‐ Immersion orientation and Induction phase.

1.   Recruitment & Selection of Social Innovator Fellows (Upto 6 weeks)

2.   Pre‐Immersion orientation & induction: (Upto 4 weeks)

3.   Immersion Programme (Upto 24 Weeks)

4.   Post Immersion Filtration (Upto 12 weeks)

5.   Product Design, Prototyping and Delivery Mechanism (Upto 36 weeks)

Outcome

BIRAC expects the Social innovators to reach a point where they either have a ready business  plan  to pitch  to investors,  or an advanced  proposal  with  some  preliminary results suitable for funding by BIG or equivalent funding source or a technology / patent suitable for licensing

Intellectual Property

The IP generated during the SIIP programme would rest with the social innovators and neither BIRAC nor partners would claim the IP rights.

Proposals for the Scheme is required to be submitted online only. To submit a proposal online, please log on to the BIRAC website (www.birac.nic.in).

 No Hard Copy to be submitted. Proposals submitted online only would be considered.

Last date for Submission of Proposals : 30th September, 2016

Details of the scheme including eligibility requirements, categories for proposal submission; guidelines for support as grant  agreement templates etc. are available at www.birac.nic.in

For any queries, please contact

Head Investment, BIRAC. Email: sparsh.birac@gov.in

Announcement Date: 15-08-2016
Last Submission Date: 30-09-2016 12:00 AM