RIF: Over € 1 million funding in 10 innovative proposals for COVID-19

Ten Cypriot start-ups and innovative enterprises have secured more than €1 million in funding from the Innovation Programmes announced by the Research and Innovation Foundation aiming to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects.

Specifically, in the targeted Calls for Proposals “SEED-COVID / 0420” and “INNOVATE-COVID / 0420″ announced in the framework of the programmes ” Development of Internationally Competitive Innovative Products and Services from Start-Ups (SEED) and ” Development and Promotion of Internationally Competitive Innovative Products and Services by Existing Enterprises”(INNOVATE), a total of 49 proposals were submitted. Through a highly competitive selection process, which included a preliminary review and scientific evaluation by independent evaluators, ten proposals secured the funding of their innovative ideas. These include 7 start-ups and 3 existing companies, which will receive a total funding of € 1,159,703.

The activities of the successful proposals are mainly in the area of Health Sciences, Information and Communication Technology and the Construction Sector. It is worth noting that in addition to the large number of proposals submitted, proving the response from the part of the ecosystem, high success rates were recorded overall, with the success rate of the proposals for the “SEED-COVID / 0420″ Call reaching to 70% while the success rate of the ” INNOVATE-COVID / 0420″ Call reached 50%, demonstrating the high quality of the proposals.

Welcoming the results, the Chief Scientist for Research and Innovation of the Republic of Cyprus, Dr. Nikolas Mastroyiannopoulos, congratulated those who managed to secure funding, and expressed his satisfaction with the results of the Programme. “Undoubtedly,” he said, “this period in which humanity faces the challenges resulting from the pandemic, poses at the same time a great opportunity to accelerate our efforts and make even greater leaps, especially in its field of digital innovative entrepreneurship”. “Through these programmes and with a view to the next day”, explained the Chief Scientist, “we treat the existing conditions as a “key” towards a sustainable economy, making Cyprus even more competitive internationally”.

At the same time, Dr. Mastroyiannopoulos expressed the belief that the above results reflect the important steps our country has taken in recent years, in terms of Research and Innovation, assuring that support for the national ecosystem will be continuous. “Practical support for stakeholders, researchers and companies remains our ultimate goal, aiming to create added value in the economy and society based on research and innovation,” he concludes.