The London Innovation Challenge returns for 2022 with the goal of making radical innovations come to life.
As London continues to flourish as a technology powerhouse in North America, we recognize that the creative industries within our ecosystem require an equal response to bolster growth of the overall economy.
That’s where innovators step in.
The London Innovation Challenge aims to accelerate and scale select London-developed solutions. Two winners throughout the challenge will receive a $40,000 investment each, customized business advisory services, and a suite of other benefits through TechAlliance.
So what do we mean by the creative industries? We define it as those who inspire new ideas and unique visions across a variety of mediums. Including gaming, marketing, music, entertainment, media, event spaces, and artists. The creative community is deeply linked to our technology ecosystem. We want individuals and organizations who facilitate inspiration and innovation for the creative community; whether you’re already in it or not.
Bolster Creative Industries: We are looking for ideas using technology to inspire innovation and provide access to resources that facilitate growth within the local creative industries.
London Impact – Ensure the innovation will demonstrate a measurable impact in London, ON.
Financial Investment – Detail how the $40,000 investment will be beneficial to the solution and will maximize the effectiveness of the idea.
Innovation Scalability – Describe how the innovation has a continued opportunity to scale, create jobs, serve more people, or be profitable as a viable solution.
Drive Prosperity – How will this innovation drive prosperity and create new employment pathways within the creative industries and your own organization?
BIOSA Technologies is revolutionizing the local textile industry for artists and creatives. Using one-of-a-kind technology, BIOSA will collaborate with Goodwill Industries and Fanshawe School of Fashion to envision a scalable textile recycling process, that will then be used to make new textiles, paints, and resins for a variety of artists.
EXAR Studios is reimagining the connection between audiences and local musicians. Leveraging their Engage Art platform, EXAR will provide real-time curation of local shows, as well as embeddable maps for music-goers to find their favorite local artists. By animating the local music scene, EXAR is bolstering access to impressive local musical talent .
A supercharged air purifier that allows businesses to have easy access to proper health and safety cleaning protocols. Leveraging patented technology combined with UV rays, In the ClearZone’s purifiers are able to destroy viruses and allergens while remaining sustainable and environmentally friendly.
A recruitment and certifications management software designed for human resources professionals and staffing agencies. Leveraging AI and custom algorithms, the platform is able to connect qualified talent to employers for available positions.
A digital tool that allows online retailers to provide accurate clothing size representations to their customers, leading to minimal returns, and extensive cost savings. SizeWize reduces clothing waste to landfills, and helps small businesses create new revenue from hesitant buyers.
Locorum is a business rewards platform for local merchants. Their goal is to expand locally, foster entrepreneurship at every level, and reach more business owners in London that can benefit from barriers to market entry.
Zersent facilitates inclusive and equitable hiring practices in any organization. The software highlights and removes cultural insensitivities, biases, and misused language from job postings to ensure inclusivity remains at the forefront of the talent acquisition process.
Caring Support is a dedicated healthcare employment platform transforming the hiring process in the industry. By going directly to the source – post secondary healthcare education programs, they are reimagining the healthcare hiring process.
The London Innovation Challenge is seeking London innovators to develop a sustainable technology solution to address the following community challenge:
Reimagine Systems for People: To ensure businesses support underemployed Londoners by engaging in equitable hiring, investments in people, and focusing on inclusivity to drive sustainable growth in London.
London Impact – Ensure the innovation will demonstrate a measurable impact in London, ON.
Financial Investment – Detail how the $20,000 investment will be beneficial to the solution and will maximize the effectiveness of the idea.
Innovation Scalability – Describe how the innovation has a continued opportunity to scale, create jobs, serve more people, or be profitable as a viable solution.
Sustainability – Ensure the innovation is financially, environmentally, and ethically sustainable.
We invite interested parties to submit their online applications below starting Monday, October 18, 2021.
The deadline for submissions is
5:00 pm EST on Friday, October 29, 2021.
“TechAlliance’s London Innovation Challenge clearly demonstrates how recovery and transformation through innovation can happen here in London. This challenge will strengthen the areas of focus identified by our community within the London Community Recovery Network Framework.“
—Ed Holder
Mayor, City of London
Questions?
We invite interested parties to submit their online applications for
Challenge 3: Bolster Creative Industries up until Tuesday, November 15, 2022. Review the criteria, determine if your idea is a fit, and submit your application online. All submissions will be in English. Paper entries will not be accepted.
The London Innovation Challenge, is open to any Londoner who has an innovative solution or project which meets the challenge of Bolstering Creative Industries. We encourage applications from individuals or teams of people who are engaged in startup ventures, or scaling businesses, grassroots initiatives and non-profit organizations.
No, multiple applications may not be submitted for the same project.
Recipients will be subject to TechAlliance’s Terms & Conditions. Additionally, the Terms & Conditions on the use of the funding will be set in a Funding Agreement between the successful Challenge recipients and TechAlliance. Challenge winners will implement and report on the success of their solutions by early 2023.
Two winners will be announced during the challenge, and each will receive $40,000 CAD. The successful recipients will agree upon suitable dates for advisory services and coaching following the announcement.
Absolutely not! The London Innovation Challenge is shaped to accelerate the project through the innovation continuum of inspiration, ideation and implementation or the business stages of idea, discovery, validation, efficiency, scale, to a final solution that is viable, scalable and impactful for London Ontario.
All concepts contributed to the London Innovation Challenge, belong to the applicant who created and submitted them. All work, data, material, documents, software, idea, know-how, expression, etc., in whole or in part, created by the winning applicant pursuant to a business plan where applicable, are the applicant’s sole property.
The successful recipients of the Challenge will be granted the financial investment of $40,000 CAD. Additionally, the successful applicant will work directly with growth coaches at TechAlliance tailored to the specific needs associated with the innovation. This could include business model canvassing, access to market intelligence, marketing and communications guidance, connection to other collaborators, etc. Throughout that development period, the successful Challenge recipients will actively engage in storytelling (media, events, social media) by TechAlliance and the City of London, to draw focus to innovative and technology-enabled solutions that contribute to London’s recovery and renewal.
Given the large community response, and in fairness to all applicants, we cannot provide additional guidance beyond published information. The application questions available here, provide further details and we encourage you to review the Questions section on this page.
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