The process was very simple. First of all, there were eligibility criteria. The SDTC team, made up of competent people, conducted a detailed analysis. Once SDTC assessed a business’s eligibility, the file would end up in the hands of the project review committee. We did not fund businesses, we funded projects.
Every project was evaluated according to specific criteria. It was a matter of determining if those criteria had been met. Then, we assessed the quality of what was presented to us. Debates occurred often. For example, a file could be eligible, but the project review committee sometimes decided that the file wasn’t strong enough. In that case, members of the committee would suggest to the business under review that it improve its proposal to make for a winning project.
I remind you that SDTC’s objective was to build winning businesses, not fund businesses. The objective was to give technology businesses the opportunity to be winners. In terms of technology, the worldwide ecosystem is competitive. It was also a matter of solidifying intellectual property and building solid management teams that could be competitive on world markets. That is what our discussions were about.
Then, once projects were accepted, a contract was negotiated, not by members of the board, but by the SDTC team. I remind you that the people negotiating those contracts were competent. Specific objectives were set for each business. Some businesses lost their funding or part of it because they did not reach those objectives. Follow-up was rigorous.
You must understand that the board of directors was a key component among many, and the process is lengthy. Since the last step was very demanding, it took six to 18 months before businesses could access funding from SDTC.
That is what I was able to observe over the five years I was at SDTC. I remind you that I haven’t been there for over three years.