Section 57-103-1 - Research and Development Program established; eligibility for assistance; application; provisions of contract for assistance, expenditure of assistance, etc.; repayment of assistance; creation of Research and Development Program Fund(1) There is established under the direction of Innovate Mississippi ("IMS") a program to be known as the "Research and Development Program" for the purpose of making assistance available for seed and early stage capital to small and medium sized Mississippi businesses with high growth potential that are engaged in research and development activities with a Mississippi university, college and/or community/junior college.(2)(a) In order to be eligible for assistance under the program, a business must: (i) have its principal place of business based in Mississippi,(ii) produce or provide a product and/or service that is science or technology related,(iii) have completed its product and/or service development planning, and(iv) develop technology-based business opportunity in partnership with a Mississippi university, college and/or community/junior college.(b) Any business desiring to participate in the program must submit an application to IMS. The application must contain a technical brief and project plan for the commercialization of the technology developed or proposed for development by the business and any other information requested by IMS. If IMS staff reviewing the application determines that an application should be reviewed by the Seed Fund Investment Board appointed by IMS Board of Directors, the application shall be forwarded to the Seed Fund Investment Board. If the Seed Fund Investment Board approves the application, IMS shall negotiate a contract with the business regarding any assistance provided to the business under the program, the expenditure of assistance provided to the business, repayment of assistance by the business, and any other matters to which the parties may agree. Any such contract must provide for at least the following: (i) that any assistance provided to the business will be on a reimbursement basis in which the business will expend funds according to the terms of the contract and submit invoices, receipts and other applicable documentation and information to IMS for reimbursement;(ii) that no funds may be expended or used for patent prosecution, reorganization of the business, or payment of any existing debt of the business outstanding or otherwise incurred at the time the contract is entered into;(iii) that no funds may be expended to reimburse expenses for work conducted or services provided by the business, a university or a third-party consultant if those expenses were incurred before the term of the contract;(iv) that at least fifty-one percent (51%) of the funds received by the business must be expended with a Mississippi university, college and/or community/junior college with which the business has a contract for research and development or technology development work or services;(v) that IMS will pay not more than ten percent (10%) of overhead expenses for the business and/or the university, college and/or community/junior college;(vi) that the business will provide matching funding of One Dollar ($1.00) for every One Dollar ($1.00) of assistance, with at least fifty percent (50%) of the match being in cash and the remaining amount being from in-kind services, all of which must be documented by time sheets, payroll receipts, invoices and other documentation or information required by IMS; and(vii) that the business receiving assistance will retain ownership of any technology developed by the business before the start of the project for which assistance is received, and that rights to new intellectual property developed as a result of the project will be subject to mutually agreed upon terms and conditions of the collaborative research agreement executed by the business and the university, college and/or community/junior college before the start of the project. Assistance received by a business and not expended for purposes required in the contract between the business and IMS may be expended for hiring third-party consultants to assist the business, working capital, marketing, prototype development and equipment. The amount of assistance that a business may receive under the program shall not exceed Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($250,000.00) in the aggregate.(c) Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, a business receiving assistance under the program shall be required to repay the assistance in the manner provided in this paragraph. Repayment shall be made through the use of a convertible note in which the business will repay one hundred percent (100%) of the amount of assistance received if such repayment is made within thirty-six (36) months from the date the assistance is received, with the amount to be repaid by the business increasing at a rate determined by the parties in the contract up to an amount not to exceed two hundred percent (200%) of the amount of assistance if such repayment is made later than thirty-six (36) months from the date the assistance is received but not later than sixty (60) months from the date the assistance is received. IMS shall have the option of converting the amount of assistance awarded to the business into common stock of the business or into a royalty in the gross sales of the business. Amounts received as repayments shall be deposited into the special fund created in subsection (3) of this section. Notwithstanding the preceding provisions of this paragraph, if the business receiving assistance fails to meet certain financial performance levels established in the contract between the business and IMS and the contract does not activate any repayment provisions, then IMS will deem the assistance provided to be a loss and the business receiving assistance shall not be required to repay the assistance received.(3) There is created in the State Treasury a special fund, to be designated as the "Research and Development Program Fund," which shall consist of funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the Legislature. The fund shall be maintained by the State Treasurer as a separate and special fund, separate and apart from the General Fund of the state. Unexpended amounts remaining in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any interest earned or investment earnings on amounts in the fund shall be deposited into such fund. Monies in the fund shall be disbursed, in the discretion of the Mississippi Development Authority, to provide funds to IMS for the purposes described in this section, or for the purposes described in Sections 57-103-3, 57-103-5 and/or 57-103-7 if IMS determines that the funds are not needed for the purposes described in this section. Laws, 2007, ch. 459, § 1, eff. 7/1/2007.Amended by Laws, 2023, ch. 339, SB 2851,§ 1, eff. 7/1/2023.