Idea to Innovation Grants

Technology transfer opportunities

The Idea to Innovation (I2I) grants aim to accelerate the pre-competitive development of promising technologies originating from the university and college sectors and to promote their transfer to new or established Canadian companies. These grants provide funding to college and university faculty members to support research and development projects with recognized technology transfer potential. The I2I program offers four distinct funding options, characterized by the maturity of the technology or the involvement of an early-stage investment entity or industrial partner. In the market assessment phase, NSERC will share the costs of an independent and professional market study with the institutions, including the industry liaison office (ILO) or its equivalent. In Phase I, the direct costs of research will be entirely supported by NSERC; in Phase II, these costs will be shared with a private-sector partner (company). The combination of Phase I and Phase II funding is limited to a maximum of three years for any given project, with one grant per phase for the same technology or intellectual property.