I have an innovation: Where do I start?
If you are a researcher-scientist with a great innovation that you want to bring to market, you might be wondering how to begin your innovation journey. There are so many questions to answer like, ‘how do I build a business plan?’, ‘how do I protect my innovation?’, ‘where do I find the right funding?’, ‘who do I need to talk to?’. It can be intimidating and overwhelming! However, it turns out that there are hundreds of resources out there to support people just like you.
Below are some of the resources that we have found most helpful. These are easy resources to explore to get you networking, learning entrepreneurship basics, and growing your lab-to-market innovation!
If you are interested in learning more, check out our Events page where we post webinars and training resources from our networks that are pertinent to lab-to-market innovators.
Networks
No one tackles an entrepreneurship journey alone! In the digital age, there are many networks to connect you to mentors, investors, and organizations across the world. The networks below are home to 10s of 1,000s of startups, investors, and mentors who can help connect you with the right resources to get started on your journey.
VC4A is one of my favorite sites for entrepreneurs from Africa! VC4A regionally focuses in Africa. They provide a full ecosystem of tools and resources for you to plug into the innovation ecosystem, regardless of where you live. (Check out our AHIA page under Programs on VC4A’s site!). VC4A hosts events, runs a VC4A academy, aims to connect you to mentors and investors.
Consider joining the community to see all the resources available to you.
Startup Grind is the world’s largest community of startups, founders, innovators, and creators. There are over 100 regional chapters in Africa alone that host unique events, speakers, and networking opportunities. Consider joining the network to learn, explore partnerships, and gain access to international funding and support.
Startup Grind hosts a World Conference each year that brings together the entrepreneurial ecosystem from across the world.
ANDE s a worldwide network of entrepreneurship support organizations from over 150 countries.
ANDE captures data on these support organizations and consolidates it into a user-friendly map to help bridge innovators, organizations, and funders.
While this is not a network for individual startups to join, I encourage you to check out their interactive map and see what support organizations are in your region/country that can help you with your next steps!
Training and toolkits
If you are a scientist or innovator, you are a subject matter expert in your profession, but not necessarily in growing a business. It’s important to yes, find business partners, but also to ‘get smart’ on business basics. There are a lot of courses and training opportunities out there to support you!
Entrepreneur Toolkit (TechStars)
TechStars largely focuses on technology-based innovations; however, they created a BEAUTIFUL (and free!) digital toolkit for entrepreneurs that cover the basics of entrepreneurship. If you don't know where to start building a business, start with TechStars online courses!
Courses include:
Understand your customers
Give your elevator pitch
And more!
Lab-to-market
As a researcher-scientist innovator, you can face unique challenges in your entrepreneurship journey, especially if you are based at an university. Some of these challenges include intellectual property, regulatory approval, clinical trials, and more. The resources below are specifically designed to support the unique needs of lab-to-market innovators.
BIO (Biotechnology Innovation Organization) is the world’s largest biotech trade organization. BIO offers online education courses that are designed to support life-science professionals in understanding how to make strategic business decisions, navigate complex regulatory hurdles, and move your innovation from lab to marketplace. (These courses do require a fee).
Courses include:
Biotech for non-scientists
Drug development
Manufacturing
Medical devices & diagnostics
Virtual Drug Product Innovation Toolkit
Yes, this resource is highly specific, but so is drug development! If your innovation is in the drug innovation space, this toolkit might be a useful resource for your business. C&C worked with lead drug development executives to put together a meaningful program and resources to support you. (These courses do require a fee).
Biolocity Bench-to-Market Series
This free educational series is hosted monthly from September – June to provide commercialization guidance to the university research community. Each session features lectures, panel discussions, or workshops lead by content experts on topics critical for technology translation success. This series is co-sponsored by Biolocity (a program of Emory University and Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA), the Georgia Clinical & Translational Science Alliance (CTSA), and the Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience.
Author: Bethany Larkin is the Program Manager for Emory University’s AHIA Program (Advancing Healthcare Innovation in Africa) and a Social Enterprise Fellow at the Goizueta Business School.