IC-IMPACTS HQP Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award

The HQP Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award is intended to enable researchers and entrepreneurs to collaborate on new and innovative commercial ventures, bringing about positive social and economic impact to Canadian and Indian communities.

This specialized award is an opportunity to deploy start-up technologies to the Indian market, to use your research to solve real-world problems, and to help create the jobs and technologies of the future. Designed to support Canadian university students and industry partners by developing international relationships, this initiative will lead to increased jobs, trade, and exports from Canada to India.

Eligibility of Applicant Team

The application should be submitted by a Canadian HQP who also serves as the team leader, coordinator and communication point with IC-IMPACTS.

Applicant teams will consist of:

At least one HQP who has worked on an IC-IMPACTS project or in an area related to one of three IC-IMPACTS themes. This HQP is now interested in and capable of extending the outcomes to Indian and national markets.
Other key team members will bring in complementary and specialized knowledge in other areas (e.g. market evaluation, entry strategy, product development, licensing, manufacturing and finance).
An HQP Indian partner, a Canadian industry partner, and India-based industry support in a team will be important to the success of the overall proposal.

Applicant teams who meet at least 4 out of the 6 requirements may still apply and may receive help from IC-IMPACTS in facilitating these relationships.

Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: IC-IMPACTS is committed to supporting traditionally underrepresented and marginalized groups. Successful projects will reflect principals of equity, diversity, and inclusion to ensure equal opportunity for all qualified potential participants.

Applicants must meet the following eligibility criteria:

The main applicant must be an undergraduate, master’s, doctoral student or postdoctoral fellow registered at a Canadian university and supported by their supervisor;
Work with a principal investigator (PI) at their university (funds will be sent to/received by the faculty PI for distribution);
At the end of the fiscal year 2019–20, successful applicants will be required to submit Form 300 and return any unutilized funds to IC-IMPACTS.

Applicants are encouraged to work towards finding an Indian funding agency along with an Indian industry partner.

Types of Eligible Projects

IC-IMPACTS is seeking proposals in three categories of projects in the deployment-ready stage of development related to IC-IMPACTS themes on safe and sustainable infrastructure, integrated water management and public health and disease prevention:

Technology Indigenization or Product Adaptation [i.e. proven technology being adapted to meet country-specific regulations or standards, different market price-points, unique community requirements (eg. different water conditions, dispersed population, different level of target audience (individual versus community or vice versa), etc.]
Technology Replication in new community context – proof of scalability and transferability to different settings [i.e. secondary deployment of technology into a different context with new parameters to assess scalability and reliability]; symmetrical projects that take the technology into the opposite country are of particular interest (i.e. if first tested in Canada, then a deployment in India, or vice versa)
Projects must qualify at a high Technology Readiness Level (TRL 5+) and be realistically achievable within 1 – 2 years.
Proposals must have a defensible IP in the targeted country of deployment (Canada or India).
Projects should be attractive to the Indian market, known for the scalability of cost-efficient innovations.

As a general guideline, projects should adhere to the I4R: be India-relevant, have a defensible IP, adhere to principals of Inclusion, have Industry support, and follow Regulations.

Award

$15,000 CAD or equivalent for the incubation of the proposed technology in India. Applicants are encouraged to find additional alternative funding support. IC-IMPACTS is discussing opportunities for VC funding, industry contribution, incubation and support ecosystems that will be extended to successful teams on mutually agreed terms

Application Process

Download the main Application Form and submit it through the Application Portal along with:
- a support letter from the academic supervisor of the main applicant and
- a support letter from the industry partner.
Proposals will be reviewed by a joint committee of Canadian and Indian experts.
Selected teams will be invited to make a presentation at IC-IMPACTS’ second entrepreneurship workshop during the first week of October.
Winners will have the opportunity to present during IC-IMPACTS December India Week to VCs to raise additional funds for incubation.
Application Deadline: February 28, 2020