Business Start Up Fund
Who should apply?
- Prevalent for those intending to set up business in modern and commercial scale agriculture activities (upstream business).
- State Government initiative or spin off companies are eligible to apply.
- Not applicable to public listed companies and/or its subsidiaries.
- Also available for agriculture downstream business, manufacturing and tourism activities.
Eligibility Criteria
- Foreign owned companies are also eligible to apply but local equity must be at least 30%;
- Proposed business activities must be in one of the NCER promoted sectors;
- Conducted geographically within NCER;
- Complements socio-economic objectives of NCER;
- Company must be:
- Less than 5 years old
- Not yet profitable
- Not yet in commercial production
- Experienced management team;
- Shareholders and directors have good financial and professional track records;
- Business plan must be feasible;
- Demonstrable market for the Company’s product;
Mode of Funding
The grant shall be disbursed based on approved milestone which has been pre-determined during the approval process. The grant should be utilized within 2 years from the date of approval.
Expenditure Covered by Business Start Up Fund
The funding covers expenditure incurred on establishing the business facilities / premises and the initial 6-24 months of the operating costs. This includes:-
- Cost of land rental (for first 2 years only);
- Cost of building rental (for first 2 years only);
- Cost related to land and building development;
- Cost related to hiring knowledge workers;
- Cost related to business development effort;
- Cost related for acquiring essential accreditation and certification;
- Cost related to developing prototype;
- Cost of acquiring/renting essential machineries and equipments;
- Cost of purchasing good quality animal and plant (including semen, embryo and clones) for breeding purposes.
How to Apply?
Applicants shall submit the followings:
- Duly completed NCIA Fund Pre-Application Form.
- Duly completed Business Start Up Fund Application Form (Upon approval of the Pre-Application Form).
- Documents stated in the checklist provided together with the above Application Form.