Wellington
Hat’s off to
Grow Wellington
forkeeping it simple and sweet, and setting the initial bar low in its ‘
Anyone with an idea, good, bad or indifferent, only has to submit up to 100 words for aproposition with commercial potential in a healthcare application.
And, when you think about it, if you can’t spark a ‘tell me more’ response in four or fivesentences, you might as well head back to the drawing board.
Entries close on March 30, and while the hundred or so already in are mostly from researchers andclinicians across universities, research institutes and district health boards, the competition’sopen to anyone across the country.
GW’s sweetens the pot for entrants with free IP management advice, connections with and toentrepreneurs and investors and help in working up a business plan for some of those ideas deemedgood enough.
Oh, and the winner gains $50,000 development funding.
Part of the scheme’s virtue (from sticK’s point of view) is that academics sometimes deem‘business’ as being something they’re not interested in – yet these are the very people thatwill have the health ideas.
Simply, getting their ideas on the table is an excellent start though, and every submission willreceive feedback.
Not many people realise that the Wellington’s region has almost 2000 researchers; with manybeing health professionals in CRIs, universities, medical school offshoots and clinical trialfacilities.
The opportunity to leverage that expertise against promising ideas is one that the region shouldtake. Allowing academics and others from around the country to quickly and easily submit an idea(compared to spending days filling in a funding application) is quite appealing.
Hand-holding at stage two, the feasibility study part, makes sense.
So, a final reminder…..just a hundred words for a good healthy idea.