Status as at Sunday 1 November 2026: closed. The Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) call for proposals to set up two “Living Labs” in the Free State and the Western Cape closed on Friday 30 October 2026 at 17:00, according to the agency’s own page. The grant on offer was up to R4.7 million per lab over 24 months. The screening of applications starts this week, so this is a funding story about what happens next and what the call shows about how TIA assesses grants.
Everything below about the call comes from TIA’s own call page and its Terms of Reference, which we read on 1 November. The page shows a last-modified date of 28 October 2026. We found no other outlet that had covered this call, so nothing here is corroborated by a third party. We found no notice of an extension on the TIA page.
What TIA was offering
TIA, acting for the Department of Science, Technology and Innovation, invited eligible organisations to apply to establish and run a Living Lab in either Lejweleputswa District Municipality in the Free State or Garden Route District Municipality in the Western Cape. Each applicant could apply for one district only. The Terms of Reference define a Living Lab as a physical, community-based innovation space that provides infrastructure, networks and structured programmes through which communities, innovators, enterprises, government, industry and knowledge institutions work on local problems.
The maximum grant is R4 700 000 per lab, subject to funding availability, assessment outcomes, approvals and contracting. The contract period is 24 months, and the grant is paid against approved milestones tied to a project plan and budget. This is a grant to an implementing partner that runs the lab, not a loan, and not money paid out to individual entrepreneurs.
What the money has to deliver
The terms set out hard output targets. The lab operator must reach at least 150 people through an Innovation Activation Programme, support 50 people with limited access to digital technology through an Innovation Bridging Programme, and take 30 selected innovators through a more intensive Innovation Support Programme. That cohort must be at least 80% youth, 50% women and 5% persons with disabilities. The operator must also work with local government, industry, universities and communities to develop five local economic development solutions, and set up links to follow-on funding, markets and investors.
The grant can pay for fitting out and adapting premises the applicant has already secured, and for specialised equipment such as prototyping tools, digital technologies, drones or virtual-reality kit. It cannot pay for major construction, structural alterations, extensive renovations, ICT infrastructure or electric power supply. It also excludes student bursaries, research projects, operating costs unrelated to the lab, and spending outside the approved scope or period.
Who could apply, and the catch on co-funding
Applicants had to be legally registered, tax compliant, with a valid Central Supplier Database report and up-to-date CIPC annual returns. They also needed a track record in the relevant province, preferably in the district itself, and verifiable experience in rural or township communities. An organisation from outside the province could apply only through an active partnership with a local one. Labs already funded under the programme were excluded.
The documents are not fully consistent on one point. Eligibility item (k) in the Terms of Reference says applicants “must submit documentary proof of the co-funding”. Section 5, on investment parameters, says applicants are “encouraged” to show co-funding. TIA’s page does not resolve this, and it is the kind of detail an applicant would have wanted answered through the enquiries address, livinglabsapplications@tia.org.za.
How applications are scored
The Terms of Reference give a 100-point technical assessment. The largest weight, 20 points, goes to the quality and feasibility of the proposed programme and delivery approach. Understanding of the Living Labs concept carries 15. Relevant experience, understanding of the local context, geographical reach, delivery capability, governance and grant management, and premises readiness carry 10 each. Sustainability and extra support brought in carries 5.
Before scoring, applications face pre-screening, and TIA can exclude one for reasons including missing mandatory documents, a funding request above the R4.7 million cap, an implementation period above 24 months, no secured premises, or not using the prescribed templates. After scoring come pitching sessions for shortlisted applicants and a due diligence check of financial capacity, governance, premises and key staff.
The calendar for the week ahead and beyond
TIA’s indicative timeline in the Terms of Reference runs as follows:
- Screening: 1 to 13 November 2026
- Assessment and shortlisting: 16 to 20 November 2026
- Pitching sessions: 23 to 27 November 2026
- Due diligence: 30 November to 4 December 2026
- Approval and contracting: 31 January 2027
TIA says these dates are indicative and may change, and it warns applicants not to make financial or operational commitments on the assumption that funding will be approved by a particular date. Its disclaimer adds that the call is not an offer of funding, and the Terms of Reference say no applicant has a right to funding merely by being shortlisted or scoring highest.
What it means for businesses
Most businesses were never the target applicant here. The call was aimed at organisations that can run a community innovation space. But it matters to three groups. Local enterprises and innovators in the two districts may become participants in the programmes the winning operators run. Organisations elsewhere can see TIA’s expectations in a public document, including the evidence it asks for: signed completion reports, award letters showing third-party funding raised, CVs, an organogram and a tax compliance PIN no more than a month old. And any business planning a grant application can use the scoring grid as a template for what funders weigh, with delivery, governance and premises counting for more than the pitch alone.
TIA has run similar calls before. Its Terms of Reference for a Castor Oil Living Lab set a grant of up to R4 717 440 and a close of 15 August 2026, and add R1 000 monthly stipends for beneficiaries, a feature we did not see in the Free State and Western Cape terms. TIA also has an open invitation on its external expert database page for industry experts to help assess investment applications. We have not checked whether that invitation has a closing date, so confirm it with TIA.
For wider options, see our October overview of what funding is open, our guide to IDC funding, the explainer on dtic incentives and our guide to the NYDA grant programme. We do not broker funding or recommend any funder.
What is still unknown
- How many organisations applied, and whether TIA extended the deadline. We found no public notice either way.
- Whether co-funding is mandatory, given the inconsistency between eligibility item (k) and section 5.
- Whether the timeline will hold, since TIA calls it indicative and the contracting date is 31 January 2027.
- Whether TIA will issue further Living Lab calls for other districts. The page does not say.
