There are currently 6,263 knowledge-based companies operating in the country, offering advanced products and services in various fields of technology to domestic and foreign markets, and some of them have entered international markets, Siavash Maleki, deputy head of the Fund stated.

The Innovation and Prosperity Fund is responsible for supporting knowledge-based companies so that it provides financial assistance to companies that have reached the export stage while granting facility and investment tools to firms that have produced a product but failed to export, he explained.

“We currently offer more than 70 services to knowledge-based companies in four formats of facilities, guarantees, investments, and empowerment,” he noted.

“Export empowerment also includes export training and consulting, obtaining specialized and export standards and licenses, and intellectual property. Export networking also includes supporting the independent presence of knowledge-based companies in foreign exhibitions, holding export events and etc.

Export development and financing include setting up joint venture capital funds with similar entities, financing companies, and export projects in the form of various facilities and investments, granting prototyping facilities, granting facilities for setting up an assembly line abroad.

Launching the assembly line abroad is one of the latest facilities of the Innovation and Prosperity Fund to knowledge-based companies,” he explained, IRNA reported on Friday.

The Innovation Fund covers 90 percent of the costs of sending business delegations to different countries, he concluded.

Despite sanctions putting pressure on the country, a unique opportunity was provided for business development and the activity of knowledge-based companies in the country.

The fields of aircraft maintenance, steel, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment, oil, and gas are among the sectors that researchers in technology companies have engaged in, leading to import reduction.

Gov. supports innovation houses to develop export

The Vice Presidency for Science and Technology supports the establishment of innovation houses in other countries to develop the export of knowledge-based products.

Exporting technological products of Iranian knowledge-based companies is one of the important and key programs of the vice presidency for science and technology, and in this regard, three houses of innovation and technology were inaugurated in Kenya, China and Syria.

And countries like Turkey, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan are set to host the innovation houses in near future.

By supporting innovative ideas, holding technological and innovative events, the centers will be a platform for the development and promotion of Iranian knowledge-based companies, startups, and creative industries.

The centers are mainly formed with the investment and support of the private sector to provide the necessary infrastructure for their exports through the innovation houses.

In each center, the products of more than 50 knowledge-based and creative companies are presented, such as health and medicine, information technology, machinery, and equipment.

To this end, the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology supports 50 percent of operating costs in the first three years to pave the way for companies to establish innovation centers.

The houses also host business meetings to accelerate international export activities and ultimately create new export markets for knowledge-based products.

Mehdi Ghalehnoei, an official with the vice presidency for science and technology, said in February that last year, knowledge-based companies gained about $800 million in revenue from export, and next year (March 21), it seems to reach up to $2 billion.

Africa, neighboring countries, Southeast Asia and Eurasia are our export target priorities, and we hope to create Iranian innovation and technology in all these areas, he added.

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The event, observing health protocols, is held both virtually and in person on May 18-21.

INOTEX has become a platform for the supply of innovation and technology, exchange of technical knowledge, as well as partnerships between companies and domestic or international investors.

During the past nine editions, the event hosted over 1,850 Iranian and foreign companies and startups and more than 60,000 people have visited the exhibition.

It is expected that more than 20,000 people will attend the event which is aimed to attract investment for startups and introduce investment opportunities to them.

Over 300 companies, startup accelerators, technology parks, and investors will set up booths at the exhibition representing their latest achievements, with more than 30 hours’ side events to be held during the four-day event.

Different sections of INOTEX meet the different demands of a startup ecosystem. At the INOTEX Stage, the speakers held sessions on challenges and opportunities of the innovation ecosystem.

A section named Sarmayeh Café provided an opportunity for the entrepreneurs and startup owners in order to attract investors by holding meetings.

At the INOTEX Peach, another section of the event, startup owners competed with each other in the presence of judges and investors.

Established in 2012, INOTEX is a platform for innovation and technology, which seeks to introduce the latest technologies to large and medium-sized industries in addition to connecting customers of technology products to their manufacturers, and also introduces investors to the opportunity to invest in technological projects or start-ups.

Leading governmental organizations of Iran are the partners behind INOTEX, including Vice Presidency for Science and Technology, Presidential Center for Innovation and Technology Cooperation, and Innovation Fund.

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