Companies and organisations may carry out a feasibility study as a way to prepare themselves for an important, ambitious, financially supportable, innovative follow-up trajectory (research project, development project, ICON project). 

Having carried out a feasibility study does, however, not mean that a company and/ or organisation(s) will automatically receive follow-up support from VLAIO. 

The intended innovation during the follow-up trajectory should have sufficient valorisation potential for Flanders. This valorisation potential should at least qualitatively have been worked out before the start of a feasibility study, but can, however, still contain uncertainties.  

The study must - in large part - experimentally research the challenging technical and/ or scientific aspects of the project. Additionally, topics such as business model innovation, service innovation and possible Intellectual Property Rights problems could be investigated.

Innovative follow-up trajectory 

Applicants should be able to prove that the aim of their feasibility study is to eventually conduct further innovative research and to develop innovative products/ services/ knowledge. In addition, the feasibility study should allow companies and organisations to make a better estimate of the risks and opportunities involved before the investment has been made and a follow-up trajectory has been started up. 

Studies that only serve as a way to generate new ideas, or that only strive for a market study or a short-term solution do not come into consideration for this subsidy. 

In principle, the duration of a feasibility study is between 3 and 12 months.