Ignite National Technology Fund, under the Ministry of IT and Telecom, will hold an online awareness session on the PM SPARK and ELEVATE Program on Wednesday, October 7, 2026, at 3:00 PM PKT, introducing Pakistan’s national R&D grant program to prospective applicants. The session will give researchers, startups and industry players a direct overview of how the program works before they commit time to preparing an application.
The program is structured around two distinct tracks, with an applicant’s technology readiness level determining which track fits their work. The SPARK track covers Research and Proof of Concept, aimed at technology at TRL 1 to 5, offering funding of up to Rs 100 million to universities, research institutions, startups and SMEs, with expected outcomes including proof of concept results, publications and intellectual property. The ELEVATE track covers Validation and Scale-up, aimed at technology already at TRL 6 to 8, offering funding of up to Rs 200 million to startups, industry players and academia-industry consortia, with expected outcomes centered on validated systems and genuine market readiness.
By tying funding tiers directly to technology readiness level, the program gives applicants a clear framework for understanding where their own work fits, rather than leaving them to guess whether their project is better suited to early-stage research funding or later-stage scale-up capital. This kind of staged funding structure can be particularly useful for university researchers and startups working on deep technology, where the distance between an initial proof of concept and a market-ready product often spans years and requires fundamentally different kinds of support along the way.
The program is open nationwide, with applications submitted entirely online, and Wednesday’s session will provide a comprehensive overview of the program, including guidance on preparing a competitive proposal, followed by an interactive question and answer segment. Interested participants can join the session through the Zoom link after registering, with further details on the program available on Ignite’s website.
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