All,

'The Technology Strategy Board has launched a new competition for Small to Medium Enterprises £600k Competition for Disruptive Solutions. This is a very accessible competition and the final stage coincides with Innovate10 where we are inviting the top 3 proposals in each of the areas of digital, energy, healthcare and sustainability to pitch for £100k.  

 The competition is being run in 3 stages, with the first being a 2-minute video pitch. But you’ve got to be quick, the deadline for video submissions is noon on Thursday 16 September. Please tell your friends, colleagues, peers and communities in business about this exciting competition and new addition to Innovate10. Entry to the competition is through the innovate website and you can find further details here.

The Full Story.

To be successful at innovation is not easy.  It requires recognition of a need and identification of a solution.  After that, it needs development of the solution to the point where it is ready for widespread use, communication of the attractions of the solution compared to other solutions and so on….but it always starts with that coupling of need and solution.  Getting those early germs of business and supporting them is a vital part of the innovation system.

Four areas where the underlying challenge can lead to huge opportunities for those who make this connection are energy, sustainability, healthcare and sustainability.  Focusing on these, the Technology Strategy Board is running a new competition to stimulate innovative new ideas in these areas – but it is not a standard competition!

 For a start, we are aiming it at small companies.  We are doing this because it is often small companies who come up with the radical ideas but find it difficult to get the right sort of support to develop them through the early stages.

 Then the selection and assessment process is very different from some of our other programmes.  It starts with a two-minute video pitch.  You will need to upload these to a dedicated website which will open next week.  Once they are up, they will be available on the website for people to add comments to help guide the assessors for a couple of weeks.  The assessment will test for understanding of the market you are aiming at, the strength of the capability you are exploiting and the potential size of the return if you are successful.  These are complex issues and to capture them in two minutes will require clarity of thinking and speaking.

 In each area, we will progress 15 applications through to a written stage.  You will have a week to explain your idea as a small business case.  The same sort of tests will be applied to your submission, and we will supply a standard application form to capture your ideas in the right format.  These will be further assessed and three proposals in each area will go forward to Innovate 10 at the Business Design Centre in London on October 12th.

 On the day, you will be given five minutes to pitch to a panel of four experts, and we will collect input from the audience as the fifth “judge”.  The four sessions will be run through the day on the main stage and the results will be announced at the end of the day.  The winner in each area will get £100k to progress their idea, but the others will get £25k.  All will be included in future Technology Strategy Board activities in the relevant area.

 This is a real opportunity for small UK based companies to get support to develop their ideas.  It will test not just your idea but your ability to communicate it in a variety of situations.  If successful you will get the money and the recognition.  How can you not try?

Research and Development

Last updated 626 days ago by Stephen Leece