ICONity was created for the development of social and community content platforms and eco-systems by Malaysians. Zeroing on target communities for portal development and enhancement and the development of cool applications and great services, ICONity ultimately means local versions of online social content and communities like Youtube, Flickr or Facebook via the Online User Generated Content Programme. The idea is to reduce the demand for foreign content in order to reduce foreign exchange loss and reduce demand for international bandwidth.
User Generated Content (UGC) is the name of the game and if you are into building local focused communities for photo, video, food, technology etc and looking into advertising business models such as Google, Yahoo, MySpace and Facebook etc then ICONity is great for you. Just make sure that you have these sorted out: target market and opportunities.
Sounds good? What are you waiting for? Register Now!
Here is a quick guide on how to get moving on your ICONity application:
Idea
Target Segments - Communities, NGO's, states, Interest Groups and niche sectors.
Areas of Interest (not limited to) - Technology, food, photography, industry associations, blogs, news and others.
How much are we talking about?
The ICONity grant goes up to a maximum of RM100,000 of conditional funding for up to a maximum of eight months of development (for terms and conditions, download the ICONity infopack). Upon approval you get a kick start of 20% out of your application!
Make sure you satisfy the prerequisites:
- Local SME or technopreneur.
- Have identified target market with emphasis on local market
- You must know your stuff: knowledge of product or service and intended market and monetization strategy.
- Credible positioning strategy (versus competitors and in comparison from local standpoint).
- A clear business model.
- To show how the product/services can contribute to broadband adoption to a specific audience (rural, urban, students, retirees etc).
You can use ICONity for:
Funding of up to RM10,000 for detailed business plan development, consultancy services, development cost and market research; up to RM36,000 for prototyping, research, design, development services and testing; up to RM10,000 for go-to-market and IP preparation; up to RM20,000 for equipment and software and up to RM24,000 for allowance for core development team members (capped at RM1,500/month for 2 developers).
... fill in the relevant information. Don't worry its just simple information such as your company information, scans of Forms 9 & 24, amount requested, description of project, number of people directly and indirectly employed and how many new people you need to hire, the estimated export potential and your basic project plan - it really doesn't have to be too detailed.
What to expect next?
Stage 1 - Your application will be evaluated and voted by a monthly evaluation committee.
Stage 2 - Your submission may be conditionally approved, rejected outright or requested to be resubmitted with additional information.
Stage 3 - Your application might be Conditionally Approved. If that happens, do not despair! All you have to do is demonstrate the existing product and a prototype or make a presentation on how the product will be re-purposed for online delivery.
Stage 4 - That's it! Final approval will be granted upon satisfactory completion of the demo/presentation.
For more information on Project Duration, Key Project Deliverables, Monitoring, Contract, Business Model, Financial Plan, Technology Plan, Deliverables and Milestones and Disbursement Model, please download the ICONity Infopack.
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