Social Enterprise at Ryerson U

For young entrepreneurs, it is essential to get support from experts and find the financial resources to develop your innovation and business venture. MAKO is proud to be part of a community that believes that progression of our economy heavily relies on young innovators. We love supporting programs that help individuals bring their idea to market.

Social Enterprise Demonstration Fund (SEDF) is an initiative to provide growth financing for Ontario-based social enterprises.  The Government of Ontario is providing a $4 million Social Enterprise Demonstration Fund to support innovative social finance pilot projects across the province. This great initiative is created to help social entrepreneurs who are creating jobs and taking on Ontario’s social and environmental issues. Our friends at Ryerson University have launched a new programfunded by the SEDF to help young entrepreneurs build and scale their social innovation ventures operating in the Greater Toronto Area.

Funding Opportunity for Applicants

Applicants can apply to two funding stages the Market Validation stage and the Market Readiness stage after completing a preliminary Idea Consultation. Each business idea will be assessed and examined. Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to be mentored by experts in order to improve their business plan and develop their social innovation skills. Applicants who have successfully completed the Idea Consultation stage will be able to move on to the Market Validation stage.

The Market Validation stage is a 6-month program offering successful applicants a $5000 award to help them test their idea on the market. Social innovators will have the opportunity to pitch their idea to experts and improve their business plans.  To be eligible, applicants must have a detailed business plan and have conducted preliminary research to identify competitive products and outline their differentiating factors.

The Market Readiness stage is open to entrepreneurs who have successfully completed the two previous stages or are at an equivalent stage of development. A funding of up to $15,000 will be granted to help entrepreneurs bring their idea to the market. Successful social innovation enterprises will be eligible to become entrepreneurs-in-residence at one of Ryerson’s Innovation Zones for a six-month period where they can get great support in several areas. The award will be granted on a 1:1 matching basis, the matching funds have to be obtained elsewhere. The deadline for applications is March 16, 2016.

This new program is a great opportunity for young entrepreneurs who are looking for support to scale and establish their social ventures. MAKO loves seeing such initiative emerging as they contribute significantly to building GTA’s entrepreneurial community, to the improvement of society, social innovations, and to strengthening our environment.

About: MAKO Design + Invent is the original firm providing world-class consumer product development services tailored to startups, small manufacturers, and inventors. Simply put, we are the leading one-stop-shop for developing your physical product from idea to store shelves, all in a high-quality, cost-effective, and timely manner. We operate as one powerhouse 30-person product design team spread across 4 offices to serve you (Austin, Miami, San Francisco, & Toronto). We have full-stack in-house industrial design, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, patent referral, prototyping, and manufacturing services. To assist our startup and inventor clients, in addition to above, we help with business strategy, product strategy, marketing, and sales/distribution for all consumer product categories. Also, our founder Kevin Mako hosts The Product Startup Podcast, the industry's leading hardware podcast. Check it out for tips, interviews, and best practices for hardware startups, inventors, and product developers. Click HERE to learn more about MAKO Design + Invent!