Financing and business model
Financing my project, Developing my business
Understand how the reimbursement system works to build a business model
Practical guide
Answers to common questions about sources of health funding
Do not confuse a project budget with a grant amount
Very often when you respond to a call for projects, the amount you request is not what you end up getting! Even if you win!
- In fact, the funding you will receive often comes to 50 to 60% of the amount requested (as mentioned in the rules of the call for projects). The company must be able to provide the remaining funds to complete the project.
Run your numbers!
- Funders are generally attentive to your company's equity capital
- It is generally accepted that: equity capital that can be used to claim aid for innovation = book equity capital + partners' current accounts - debts - aid already received
- If capitalised production is relevant to you, it may or may not be counted as equity. Ask your funder!
- Reminder: capitalised production is the sum of work done for its own account (for example, software development)
- Your business plan can also include support for innovation, such as France's Innovation Tax Credit, Research Tax Credit, or French Tech grant to finance the design of prototypes, the implementation of pilots, or design and feasibility studies. Be advised that tax credits are generally collected at a later point.
Financing eHealth innovation projects
To achieve, or accelerate, the development of innovative projects in eHealth, financial support can be a major asset. In France and in Europe, numerous forms of support for companies exist, and it’s sometimes difficult to identify every financing scheme that fits your project, particularly in the field of eHealth.
In France’s eHealth environment, there are different ways to obtain funding or support for the development of innovative digital projects. These means may be available to companies by responding to a call for projects, or by participating in competitions, for example. Such support is also provided by regional development funds (set up by the ARSs), investment banks (such as bpifrance), the Ministry of Health (via the Innovation Package or the hospital clinical research programme), etc.
All of these options require thorough research by project leaders to identify the ones that might be suitable for their situation.
Each company must develop its own financing strategy based on the nature, maturity, and needs of its project. This work will continue throughout the project: From the idea phase, through the creation of the prototype, to the launch. To do this, it’s important to clearly define the objective and guidelines of the project. It is critical to be able to highlight how your project is innovative, as well as the services provided by your system. Finally, each company must demonstrate the feasibility of its project, and its foundation must be solid, particularly with regard to the processing and confidentiality of data.
How can G_NIUS help me understand the financing of eHealth projects?
One of the objectives of the national portal for health innovation (G_NIUS) is to provide support for business development in order to make it easier to identify all sources of financing that are available.
Calls for projects, trials, innovation funds, and more G_NIUS gives you the keys to understand how these sources of public funding work.
On G_NIUS, companies can find fact sheets to identify the different types of public funding they can get from France and Europe.
G_NIUS also contains tips to help you determine your funding strategy, to help you understand how the reimbursement system for medical devices works, to complete your funding application, and to build a reliable business model.
The map feature on G_NIUS also allows you to scan the territories and regions of France to locate sources ofsupport for your eHealth innovation projects.