i.d.e.a Fund Program Announcement

i.d.e.a. Fund is a program that fosters inclusion, diversity, environment and

acceleration while contributing to a green recovery, and is delivered in partnership

with the following Ontario Regional Innovation Centres (RICs): Innovation Guelph,

Haltech, Innovate Niagara, WEtech Alliance, Innovation Factory and TechAlliance of

Southwestern Ontario, to support a more sustainable economy while fostering an

inclusive and equitable recovery in southern Ontario.

i.d.e.a. Fund projects will focus on one or more of the following project areas:

• Business Management & Strategy
• Technical Expertise Development (IT or Engineering) Leadership Training
• Talent Recruitment
• Branding & Marketing
• Process Efficiency & Optimization
• New Product Development
• Prototyping & Product Piloting
• B2B Sales & Business Development
• Investment Readiness & Preparation

Selected innovative businesses can be from any industry sector and will receive:

• Seed funding of up to $30,000 per company with matching funds
• Up to 40 hours of targeted support and expertise from business leaders

Eligibility Criteria

• One or two team members of the business’ leadership team is available to participate in the program between June 30, 2022 – February 28, 2023
• The applicant must be early-stage business or Small to Medium Enterprises (1-499 employees) and the business must be headquartered in Southern Ontario
• Business must be incorporated (Ontario or federal)
• Business owner/founder must be working in the business full-time
• Business must have a scalable product or service

Applications are open May 10-June 7.

If you have a project that might fit the criteria, please attend one of our information sessions. We would be happy to speak to you in more detail about your specific project ideas.

You can register for an information session and find all the information here.

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