The Martin Walmsley Fellowship for Technological Entrepreneurship facilitates the transition of Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) funded research into new business ventures. This competition fosters an entrepreneurial spirit within Ontario and honours the vision of Dr. Martin Walmsley in developing new innovative institutional structures. It will fund a post-secondary research student who has been associated with the development of OCE-affiliated intellectual property worthy of commercialization. This research student will assist in establishing a new technologically innovative business venture based on the intellectual property developed in their research project.
Ontario Government Funding Competition Benefits
Potential applicants must be identified and nominated by OCE Business Development Managers and hold a minimum of a Master’s degree. These OCE Business Development Managers will then work with individual applicants to develop and create their application and formal presentation. Eligible candidates can be awarded up to $50,000 per year for two years, plus an additional 10% for pre-approved expenses, such as legal, patent and consulting costs. The winner will gain ongoing mentorship from Business Development/OCE staff and have the opportunity to tap into OCE’s network of law, business and academic professionals.
Critical Implementation Timeline
The following are important implementation due dates:
- Closure date for applications: August 10th, 2012
- Screening for semi-finalist presentations by regional teams and nomination of their top candidate as a semi-finalist: August 24th, 2012
- BDO viewing of regional top candidate presentations and selection of finalists: September 7th, 2012
- Finalist’s applications to EPAP: September 10th, 2012
- Finalist f2f presentations to EAP: September 20th, 2012
- Letter to the fellowship applicants and winners: September 27th, 2012
- Winner announced at OCE AGM: October 23rd
Ontario Government Funding Support via Martin Walmsley Fellowship Competition
Finalists for the Martin Walmsley Fellowship Competition are required to present their business to an expert panel of judges that reviews the application and presentation. These presentations will be judged on the quality of the candidate, strength of the technology, sound business planning and its commercial viability. Lastly, the OCE Executive Team will make the final funding decision after reviewing the recommendations made by the panel. Companies interested in gaining other Canadian small business funding support should contact one of our Canadian Government Funding Experts. Additionally, to receive current updates on these types of government funding programs, be sure to follow us on Twitter or LinkedIn.