Open Innovation Grant

NIA Open Innovation Grant

Supports Thai small businesses through NIA Open Innovation with grants for design, prototyping, and pilot learning.

The NIA Open Innovation Grant is a continuous-cycle matching grant administered by Thailand's National Innovation Agency (NIA) under the Regional Innovation Business Platform. It funds cross-industry innovation projects at the design, engineering, prototype, and pilot stages. NIA contributes up to 75% of total project costs, with a per-project ceiling of ฿1,500,000. Applicants must contribute at least 25% from their own resources. The programme runs two to three application rounds per fiscal year (Thai FY2569 covers October 2025 to September 2026), making it one of NIA's highest-throughput funding instruments. Unlike the Thematic grant, there is no restriction to specific sectors — almost all industry groups are eligible.

Eligible applicants are Thai-registered legal entities with at least 51% Thai shareholding. Eligible legal forms include companies and partnerships, foundations, associations, community enterprises, and cooperatives. Individual applicants are not accepted. The programme has a particular focus on SMEs and startups, and regional delivery is supported through NIA partnerships with science parks and universities in the Central, Northern, Northeastern, and Southern regions of Thailand. Applications are submitted through the NIA MIS portal at mis.nia.or.th. The first submission step is a Conceptual Idea form — applicants do not need to prepare a full proposal at intake. NIA project-development staff contacts screened-in applicants to schedule a presentation before the full proposal stage is required.

Applicants strengthen their position by clearly articulating the innovation problem, demonstrating that the proposed solution is at a defined development stage (design through pilot), and showing how the 25% co-funding requirement will be met. Projects in regions outside Bangkok benefit from regional delivery partnerships. Because rounds open and close several times per year, applicants should monitor the NIA website and the mis.nia.or.th portal for current round opening dates, as exact deadlines are published cycle by cycle rather than announced in advance for the full fiscal year.