Enterprises benefit from voucher scheme in Jiading
A first group of 1,217 enterprises in Shanghai, including 127 Jiading-based companies, will cash in more than 45.59 million yuan (US$6.4 million) on science and technology innovation vouchers this year, according to Shanghai Science and Technology Commission.
The voucher was provided to innovative enterprises to purchase services from professional institutions to cut the research and development costs and enhance the competitiveness.
This year, the top voucher amount has been raised from 300,000 to 500,000 yuan for each enterprise.
SGR Semiconductors Inc, a Jiading-based company specializing in millimeter wave radar chips, seeks business opportunities through contactless way.
A client decided to upgrade and transform its products — traffic lights switching devices mostly applied in intersections with low traffic volume — into contactless ones with gesture command functions.
SGR puts most of its R&D and testing services in the laboratory of Shanghai Industrial μTechnology Research Institute in Jiading. According to the latest rules of innovation voucher, all R&D expenditure incurred in this lab can enjoy a maximum subsidy of 50 percent.
As a result, SGR achieved smooth delivery of the upgraded products within a month, which saved time for the client.
According to statistics, the vouchers are mostly used by biomedicine and integrated circuits enterprises, accounting for 85 percent of the total amount across the city.
Jiading has formed a good ecosystem for the integrated circuit industry as top industrial platforms and enterprises such as national intelligent sensor center and Shanghai Industrial μTechnology Research Institute are gathering in the district. The agglomeration of many small and medium-sized enterprises forms a vital factor in this ecosystem.
Due to the COVID-19 spreading overseas, some enterprises with advantages in virus prevention began to export products to the overseas market.
TMiRob, a medical robot developer, plans to promote robot products used in virus prevention work to the overseas market.
TMiRob entrusted Shanghai Beyond Attorneys At Law Intellectual Property Agency Co Ltd with overseas patent layout and infringement analysis. The analysis service fee is more than 300,000 yuan. However, after using the science innovation voucher subsidy, the enterprise only needs to bear around half of the cost.
Since March, clients have purchased the agency’s services with the voucher in more than 10 projects, doubling from the same period last year.
In order to further cut the R&D costs of enterprises amid the COVID-19, the district’s science and technology commission raised the ceiling of the science and technology innovation and entrepreneurship voucher from 100,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan. So far, 159 enterprises have applied for the voucher.