Having problems with your grant application?

I regularly get messages (complaints) about how their or their friends’ grant applications have been rejected. I just want to share some thoughts here in order to provide some context and hopefully promote understanding.

• Cradle receives upwards of 600-700 applications a year for our grant programmes. Actual approvals however are in the low single digits (in percentage terms). This means that grant applications are hyper competitive in nature.
• Our grant programme is not geared for social impact (or similar) start-ups. Not impossible per se, simply that it is not optimized for such start-ups. Other agencies have programmes that are better suited for them.
• It does not cover start-ups that are still in R&D (or similar) stage . In fact, our grant programmes have a specific window - you can’t come in too early (R&D or similar) or too late (more than 3 years in operation or more than RM3 million in revenues).
• We are also unable to support start-ups that have unresolved regulatory issues. Our start-ups need to comply with the rules and regulation of the land whatever they may be.
• Given its hyper competitive nature, paying close attention to the basic eligibility requirements helps being disqualified at the earliest stages eg incorporated in Malaysia (Sdn Bhd), 51% Malaysian owned etc.
• One emerging challenge we face today is the very large number of “me too” startups eg another ride hailing platform, another property listing platform etc. While not immediately fatal, we will obviously be more critical from the get go – how are you different? Why is it still an interesting opportunity? How will you execute your (challenging) plan?
• It is important to understand that our role is to not to fund everyone. Doing so would not be sustainable nor appropriate. Our role is to catalyse the tech start-up space by funding a select number of startups and create a critical mass that will serve to create awareness and fuel entrepreneurial aspirations. It also plays a vital ‘signaling’ function. Our activities are a manifestation of the Government’s continued support of the tech startup space thus providing private investors the comfort and confidence to participate.

I will end by saying that the grant process we use has been around since Cradle started providing grants for tech start-ups way back in 2003. While not infallible it is one that is stable and mature incorporating best practices learnt over the last 15 years. We try our best to communicate issues and if we fail to do so, do alert us and we will get back to you.

For those of you about to start-up, I salute you!