Proposals submitted under the BUILD program must meet the following requirements in order to be consider for funding:

• Be submitted and led by an Alberta small or medium enterprise (includes start-ups).
  • Must be a for-profit company.
  • Incorporated and operating in Alberta.
  • Minimum of one and no more than 500 full-time employees.
  • Annual sales revenue cannot exceed $50 million.
• Propose a project involving the development and commercialization of an innovative geospatial technology product or service.
  • preference will be given to projects where geospatial technology is essential to the value proposition of the product.
• Include a comprehensive technology commercialization plan with a well-defined target market or customer.
• Provide regular full-time employment of at least one net-new Highly Qualified Personnel (HQP) to work in Alberta, primarily on the targeted development for the duration of the project or 12 months, whichever is longer.
  • HQPs must be present and eligible to work in Canada by the start of the project.
  • The HQP must represent a ‘net new hire’ for the company, meaning that the position identified must be additional to the current and recent activity of the company, and is not a replacement for a recently departed employee, contractor, or consultant.
  • Priority is given to projects generating multiple and long-term new employment opportunities.

Priority is given to projects that quickly move high market potential geospatial technology concepts through the development, testing, implementation, and full commercialization stages.

Only one application per Applicant Company will be accepted for review at one time. In the case where multiple applications are submitted from the same applicant company, all same-company applications will be disqualified.

Applications from companies currently funded by TECTERRA under the BUILD or LEAP programs will be accepted if they are currently under contract for a maximum of one other project.

TECTERRA assesses all applications based on various criteria including:

GEOSPATIAL

• To what degree does the value chain for the product or service have a geospatial component?
• To what degree does the geospatial or related technology component add value to the overall system and its application?

INNOVATION

• Is there innovation in the technology being developed for the product or service?
• Is there innovation in the application of the technology?
• Is there market innovation?
  • Is this a new product being developed for an existing market?
  • Is this an existing product being pushed or pulled into new market?

PROGRAM READINESS

In order to be eligible for the BUILD Program, applicants will have to demonstrate their ability and capacity to execute on their project plan by answering the follow questions:

• Does the applicant have sufficient technical expertise to complete the development?
• Does the applicant have sufficient business expertise to take this through to commercialization or utilization?
• Is a believable market problem clearly identified?
• Does the applicant have sufficient business expertise to commercialize the product?
• Is the product description understandable; a clear, tangible and marketable output that will meet that identified need?
• Does the project plan and project expense budget logically suggest the successful completion of the development and successful commercialization?
• Is the sales/utilization forecast realistic and corroborated?
• Can the applicant service and support the product or service beyond TECTERRA’s engagement?

ADDITIONAL CRITERIA

• Will the project’s profitability and growth profile provide a positive economic impact to Alberta?
• Is there an opportunity that the project will establish the funded company, Alberta, and/or Canada as a geospatial technology leader?
• Is there benefit to the broader industry, market sector(s), and/or society?
• Is there an acceptable project risk profile (i.e. project success potential vs. business, technical, and financial risk)?
• Is there a clear framework for intellectual property management among the involved parties (e.g. research, industry and government) to ensure mutual benefits for all stakeholders?

Applicant’s prior performance in TECTERRA programs are considered in the assessment of applications.

The BUILD Program provides funding in the range of $150,000 to $500,000 per project and is open to projects with budgets greater than $300,000.

BUDGETARY REQUIREMENTS

For a project to qualify for TECTERRA funding it must meet the following minimum budgetary requirements:

• A minimum contribution from the applicant company and/or project partners representing 50% of the overall project cost.
  • The company must demonstrate it has the resources, financial, human and other, in place and available for use at the start of the project.
• Direct funding support to this project from other government programs (referred to as ‘stacking’) is not permitted.
• In-kind contributions from the applicant and/or project partners are encouraged but may not be used in the calculation for the 50% contribution requirement.

ELIGIBLE EXPENSES

Only actual and direct project expenses are eligible under the program and include:

• Labour
• Consulting fees
• Prototyping
• Product testing and validation
• Travel
• Marketing and sales events
• Marketing materials
• Non-capital equipment and supplies used in the project
• Other actual expenses incurred directly and solely on the project

INELIGIBLE EXPENSES

Expenses that are ineligible under TECTERRA guidelines include:

• Expenses incurred prior to Project Start Date
• Non project-specific expenses
• Capital Expenses
• Operational expenses including overhead, in-house general and administrative labour and interest on debt.

LOAN REPAYMENT MODEL

TECTERRA does not seek corporate equity or IP ownership/license rights; however, TECTERRA’s funding is not a grant.  TECTERRA requires repayment from every project investment that has achieved commercial success.

Successful SME applicants will be required to repay 100% of TECTERRA’s investment after successful commercialization of the product/service.  Payments are made in quarterly installments each equaling the lesser of

• 20% of TECTERRA’s funding, or
• 25% of the gross revenue from the sale and/or license of the product/service and all associated revenue.

NOTE: This means that payback is based upon commercial success and will not actually start until the project is complete and revenue is generated!

The program application process is as follows:

• Applicants submit an initial application at any time through the online client portal HERE.
• Applications are reviewed by TECTERRA within 1 week of submission.
• Successful applicants are invited to meet with TECTERRA in a 90 min meeting consisting of:
  • 10 minute pitch.
  • 80 minute questions and discussion.
• Successful applicants from the meeting are invited to submit a Full Proposal (FP).
• Full Proposals are reviewed by TECTERRA management and the external Project Advisory. Committee and suitable applications are recommended to the Board of Directors for funding
• TECTERRA’s Board of Directors reviews and approves qualified projects.
  • The estimated program budget, number of awards and average award size and duration of acceptable projects is subject to the availability of funds as determined by TECTERRA’s Board of Directors.
• All applicants are notified of their FP status.

APPLICATION STAGE

Applicants may submit an initial application to TECTERRA at any time and may do so through the online client portal HERE. Submissions will be reviewed by TECTERRA and successful applicants will be contacted and invited to a meeting with TECTERRA. Successful applicants will be invited to submit a Full Proposal containing full project details for final consideration and decision.

Prior to submitting an application, you are strongly encouraged to contact Andrew House, Director of Commercialization Programs at ahouse@tecterra.com for the purpose of addressing any questions and ensuring proper alignment with the program.

TECTERRA reserves the sole and absolute right and discretion to select all, some or none of the application submissions for Full Proposal consideration.

NOTE: Submissions must be through the online client portal HERE.  Only applications submitted via the online form will be reviewed.  All other submissions will be disqualified.

FULL PROPOSALS (FP) STAGE

FP submissions are by invitation only and must be submitted through the online client portal.  In addition to the FP, applicants are also required to submit a pitch video with a maximum length of 2 minutes.  FP submissions will be reviewed by TECTERRA as well as its external Project Advisory Committee.  Suitable submissions will be recommended to TECTERRA’s Board of Directors for funding approval.  Successful FP applicants will be contacted to complete the definitive funding agreement, which will include all terms and conditions.

TECTERRA reserves the sole and absolute right and discretion to select all, some or none of the FP submissions for funding.  TECTERRA also has the sole and absolute discretion to determine all funding amounts, which may be different from the amount requested by the applicant.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND DISCLOSURE

TECTERRA will hold all BUILD Program information, including application details and financial information as confidential. TECTERRA, however, reserves the right to use some information about funded companies as may be required for its reporting and marketing purposes.