Accessing your Seed Funding Award
If you are a Jim Leech Mastercard Foundation (JLMCF) Fellow who has been awarded seed funding, please review and follow the instructions below carefully to avoid delays in payment processing.
Seed funding is non-dilutive.
DDQIC will not take any equity in your venture.
Seed funding is paid in two or more lump sum payments.
The purpose is to fund legitimate and appropriate business expenses for your venture.
Before you begin spending your seed funding, all potential expenses should be considered in the context of the venture's scarce financial resources and whether the expense is crucial. Consider if the expense will be the most generative use of funds at that point in your venture's development.
DDQIC seed funding provides ventures with the opportunity to think critically about appropriate use of funds and making good business decisions.
Ask Yourself:
Is this expense crucial to the success of my venture right now?
What is the outcome of this purchase?
Not every expense will be legitimate, allowable, and appropriate business expense. Expenses should make the most of scarce resources and prioritize business growth and continuity.
Examples of ineligible expenses:
- Goods for resale
- Attendance at non-industry specific conferences or tradeshows
- Non-essential travel, meal, or hospitality expenses
- Founder salaries
- Non-essential office equipment, computer equipment, and furniture
- Items that are more cost-effectively accessed outside of a full purchase (for example, when considering equipment rental vs. purchase, the more cost-effective of the two will be considered eligible)
- Alcohol
- Fancy pens or new ties
Step 1: Getting Started
In order to begin submitting expenses for reimbursement, you will need to provide DDQIC with:
1. A partnership agreement or shareholder agreement for ventures that are for-profit entities.
- Please refer to the for helpful resources and information.
- Not-for-profit entities are requested to speak directly to the DDQIC team regarding venture-specific requirements.
2. A signed seed funding agreement. DDQIC provides a copy of this agreement once funds have been awarded.
Step 2: Budget Meeting with DDQIC Staff
To ensure that you have considered the best use of your limited resources the DDQIC Team will ask to meet with you prior to accessing your seed funding award. During this meeting you should outline your spending plan for both the seed funding and any other funds you anticipate. For this meeting you should include:
- A budget projection for the business for the next year.
- A spending plan for the seed funding award itemizing how you expect to spend it.
- A plan for how you will fund the business outside of seed funding.
During this meeting, the DDQIC team may ask you questions and provide advice on how to better approach your finances as a business. This will be important for you to consider when making future purchases.
Depending on the results of this meeting, you will then receive an initial lump sum payment of up to 50% of your award. Further payment(s) will be paid after you have spent this initial amount. You may be required to schedule additional budget meetings before we release your final payment(s).
- Example: You received a total award of $3000 CAD. After your budget meeting, you are given 50% lump sum payment of $1500 CAD. You spend that $1500 on materials to build and test your prototype. You then prepare a single expense report itemizing each item you purchased along with receipts and invoices from vendors indicating that you’ve paid for the good/services. You submit this expense report to DDQIC Finance. DDQIC Finance will review and if acceptable, will issue a second lump sum payment of $1500 CAD. You will provide another expense report indicating how you’ve spent this final $1500.
Step 3: Incurring Expenses
Expenses incurred before receiving a seed funding award are ineligible.
Upon spending all funds from your initial payment, you will be required to provide DDQIC with an expense report detailing all the expenses you purchased with seed funding.
Expense reports must be provided within 6 months of the date that you spent the last of your lump sum payment.
You must retain proper documentation for each expense.
Step 4: Ongoing Operations and Viability
To continue to receive seed funding your venture must remain operational and viable in the opinion of DDQIC staff.
Your venture idea and team need to be substantially the same as when seed funding was awarded. If your team or venture changes you may be required to re-pitch for your funding.
Step 5: Spending Window
All seed funding must be used within two years of the award date.
- Example: A QICSI venture is awarded $4000 of seed funding on August 1, 2023 through the summer program. The $4000 must be spent in full by August 1, 2025.
- Note: Each award has a 2-year spending window. To continue the above example, the same QICSI venture is awarded an additional $10000 on August 17, 2023 as a prize in the Pitch Competition. This $10000 must be spent in full by August 17, 2025.
Requests to extend the use of seed funding beyond the two-year window must be submitted and approved by the DDQIC team.
After you have spent your first lump sum payment of seed funding, you must submit an expense report. Expense reports must be submitted by email to ddqic.finance@queensu.ca and should include the following two attachments/documents:
Item #1
Excel workbook, provided by DDQIC, detailing all expenses included in the report. You must use the template workbook provided by DDQIC and you can download it below.
Item #2
Supporting documentation, including invoices, receipts, and proof of payment. These are to be submitted as a single PDF document, with all supporting documents listed in the same order as detailed in the Excel workbook (Claim Item #1). Proper documentation is required for all purchases.
Supporting Documentation Checklist:
- Does it show WHAT was purchased?
- Does it show the PRICE of what was purchased?
- Does it show the DATE of purchase?
- Does it show WHERE it was purchased?
- Does it prove that you PAID? Ex. Invoices must show that any balance owing has been paid in full
- Does it show the currency you paid in and any exchange applied to your final payment?
Seed funding claims are processed according to the below submission windows and processing timelines:
| Quarter | Submission window | Processing window |
| 1 | May 1-July 31 | August |
| 2 | August 1-October 31 | November |
| 3 | November 1-January 30 | February |
| 4 | February 1-April 30 | May |
If you require your claim to be processed outside of a window, you may contact DDQIC at ddqic.finance@queensu.ca. Requests are subject to approval by the DDQIC team.
Please note that although claims are reviewed and approved by DDQIC staff first, payments are then reviewed and processed by Queen’s Financial Services and are subject to all Queen’s Financial Services policies and procedures. DDQIC staff are not able to guarantee or influence payment processing times.
Direct to Venture
Ventures will be set up with a single supplier profile in the ³ÉÈË´óƬ Accounts Payable system, acQuire. The DDQIC team will provide instructions to set up this supplier profile upon receipt of submission of your first seed funding claim.
All seed funding reimbursement payments will be issued directly to the venture by their preferred method from the following options: EFT (direct deposit), VPA (Visa payable automation), or ACH (Automated Clearing House). Cheque reimbursement is possible if your venture cannot accept any of the previously mentioned remittance methods.
Exception: Direct payment of an invoice by DDQIC
Ventures may request that the DDQIC pay an invoice directly on their behalf.
While this is commonly requested for payments $1000 CAD or more, there is no minimum amount required to make a request.
Requests for direct payment of an invoice by the DDQIC must be submitted to ddqic.finance@queensu.ca and approved by the DDQIC team.
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Legitimate ≠Allowable ≠Appropriate.
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You will remain responsible for any expenses you incur that are not deemed appropriate by DDQIC staff.
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Seek pre-approval for expenses over $1000 CAD.
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Maintain proper documentation for all purchases.
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Expense reports must be submitted within 2 months of the date the final expense on the report was incurred.
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Expenses incurred prior to receiving a seed funding award are ineligible for reimbursement.
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Claims will only be processed during the appropriate processing window.
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Please review your claim for accuracy before submitting to the DDQIC. Failure to do so may lead to significant processing delays. Submissions should only include the two requested expense report attachments.
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Completed claims should be submitted by email to ddqic.finance@queensu.ca.
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If your team or business changes, you may be required to re-pitch for funding.
- To continue accessing your seed funding, your venture must remain operational and viable in the opinion of DDQIC staff.