KUALA LUMPUR, August 15 – Various industry groups says the move by Cradle Investment Programme (CIP) to triple its grant size and expand areas of funding will assist in building world class technopreneurs.
CIP is Malaysia ’s first development and pre-seed funding programme managed by Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd. Recently revamped, the programme is now known as CIP Catalyst where budding innovators with technology-oriented ideas can now apply for conditional grants.
The conditional grant comprises a maximum of three conditional tranches of up to RM50,000 per tranche to groups of innovative individuals for their technology ideas in the ICT, non-ICT and high-growth technology industries.
Under CIP Catalyst, the ambit of funding areas has expanded where from just the development of prototype, proofs of concept and / or business plans, it now includes purchase of market feasibility research, Intellectual Property (IP) search and registration, surveys on concrete statistical data and product sampling expenses. 
Stephen Chia, President of Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia (TeAM) lauds the move and said that the funding support for technopreneurs especially at the pre seed stage is crucial.
“The additional funding is important as it will help to cover the costs that are normally not associated in the development of ideas in the prototype stage. These include funding for further research, seeking smart partnerships both locally and abroad, road shows to test their products and prototypes, and legal issues associated with IP protection and registration.”
“In addition, the new funding structure will also assist CIP to monitor the progress and milestones achieved by the technopreneurs, and nurture the project to the development stage,” added Chia.
Malaysian Association of Creativity and Innovation (MACRI) Founder and President, Dato’ Ghazi Sheikh Ramli concur and said the initiative is timely as providing additional grants will further spur the development of technology innovations in the country.“Malaysian innovators will now have three times more financial resources to take their ideas closer to the realm of commercialization. It is thoughtful of CIP to meet the needs of technopreneurs to conduct market feasibility studies and obtain IP protections for their technology innovations. These are key components that ensures successful commercialization for their innovations,” said Dato’ Ghazi.
President of New Entrepreneur Forum (NEF), Ashran Ghazi also applauded the introduction of CIP Catalyst as it will be responsible in developing, nurturing and guiding entrepreneurs, test out individual competencies and manage risk simultaneously in producing market-driven products and services.
“On the importance of granting additional funds for technopreneurs is to allow them to carry out other aspects of development and ensure completeness of their product.”
He however cautioned that the process needs to be flexible to cater to each individual’s needs as some may have already done the necessary research but would require additional funds for development. To overcome this, Ashran said CIP will have to monitor the process so it does not become a hindrance to the progression of the idea.
The industry groups recognized CIP’s role to boost the number of successful technopreneurs and believe CIP will be able to narrow the gap in the innovation value chain -- from the generation of ideas to the commercialization stage – not only through the disbursements of grants but via value added services such as guidance and mentoring the technopreneurs..
Since its inception in 2003, Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd has approved a total of RM15.7 million to 270 innovative entrepreneurs and to date has successfully commercialized about 42 per cent of the completed ideas it has funded. A sum of RM100 million has been allocated by Ministry of Finance MOF for this programme.
摇篮投资专案催化剂深获科技工业界业者好评
（吉隆坡15日讯）摇篮投资专案 (Cradle Investment Programme, 简称CIP) 将其獎掖增至3倍，以及扩大拨款范围的做法，被众多科技领域业者视为有助于打造世界级科技创业家。
摇篮基金公司 (Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd) 旗下管理的摇篮投资专案，是大马首项发展与前种子资金专案 (pre-seed funding programme)。这项最近重新換上新貌的专案，现已命名为「摇篮投资专案催化剂」 (CIP Catalyst) 凡以科技为基础為构思的新进创意家，皆可申请这项附带条件的獎掖。
這項附带条件的獎掖最多可作 3 期发放，每期资金可拨出高达5万令吉，给予具备创新构想的个人团体。這些构思包括资讯工艺、非资讯工艺和高成长率的科技工业。
摇篮投资专案催化剂已扩大辅导金涵盖的范围，不只涵盖原型产品的发展、验证构思或商务企划，現在还加入了一些市场可行性的研究、知识产权的搜寻与注册、具体的统计数据调查及产品樣本开销。
大马科技创业家协会 (Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia, TeAM) 主席Stephen Chia对此做法表示赞赏，并認為资助科技创业家，尤其是在前种子阶段給予资助，为重要之举。
"该专案的额外拨款很重要，因为这将能夠支付一般在原型产品阶段上．发展构想之外的开销。这包括進一步的研究、物色国内外的合作伙伴、举办巡迴展览以测试产品和原型产品，以及知识产权保护与注册的法律相關事務。"
Chia补充说：＂除此之外，新的资金专案架构，会协助摇篮投资专案监督科技创业家的进展与所達致的重大階段，同時孕育计划至成長階段。＂大马创造和創新协会 (Malaysian Association of Creativity and Innovation, MACRI) 创办人兼主席 Dato' Ghazi Sheikh Ramli表示赞同，並认为这项努力正合时宜，因为提供额外拨款的獎掖将進一步的激发国内的科技创意发展。
Dato' Ghazi说："大马创意家如今拥有超过 3 倍的财务资源，协助他们将构思商业化。摇篮投资专案进行市场可行性的调查，同時为科技创新获取知识产权保护的做法非常週到，也迎合了科技创业家的需求。这都是确保他们能成功将创意产品商业化的关键因素。"
新企业家论坛 (New Entrepreneur Forum, NEF) 主席Ashran Ghazi也称赞摇篮投资专案催化剂，因为该专案将同時负责发展、孕育、指引创业家以及测试个人能力及掌管风险，以推出市场为导向的产品与服务。
"供給科技创业家额外拨款的重要性，在于促使他们能够对产品进行另一方面的发展及确保产品的完整性。"
不过，他也提醒程序必须灵活处理，以迎合个人不同的需求，因为一些人可能已完成了必要的研究，但在发展方面需要额外资金。Ashran说，为解决这个问题，摇篮投资专案務必监管专案的進展，确保这不会成为让构思成形的障碍。
这些科技界业者公认摇篮投资专案扮演著提高更多成功科技创业家的角色，并深信摇篮投资专案将拉近从开发构思至商业化商品阶段的鸿沟 --这不只通过獎掖的拨款，也通过指引和監督科技创业家等附加价值服务。自2003创办以来，摇篮投资专案已拨出总值1570万令吉予270名创意的企业家，目前已成功將该专案42%的融资构想商业化。财政部已拨出1亿令吉给予此項计划劃。
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