Main street businesses are essential to vibrant communities, but across Southwestern Ontario, they continue to feel the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That’s where innovators step in.
With collaboration leading the way to recovery, TechAlliance presents The 5-10-15 Main Street Innovation Challenge, created to build bridges between businesses and creative solutions that spark transformational change along main streets in Southwestern Ontario.
Open to innovators in Elgin, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex and Oxford counties, four solutions will each receive $15,000 to stimulate growth for their initiatives.
The 5-10-15 Main Street Innovation Challenge is seeking immediate results for main street businesses. To that end, applications will be open for five days, starting February 5, 2021 followed by a rapid evaluation period of just five days by an adjudication panel comprised of economic development partners from Elgin, Huron, Lambton, Middlesex and Oxford counties. Recipients will be announced on February 16, 2021.
Innovative and technology-enabled solutions that transform main street at the centre of their solution bring forth new, inclusive, and disruptive approaches for economic recovery and community prosperity.
Applicants are encouraged to consider challenges main street businesses have faced during the health crisis as they create their solutions. We also encourage applications from grass-roots initiatives, individuals or teams of people who are engaged in startup or scaling enterprises and non-profit organizations.