Innovation North
Ideas, change, passion and trends all contribute to the need for new products, services and processes and therefore are the base stimulus for the process of devising solutions to address unmet needs, better known as innovation. Innovation is not always profound in its nature but is often profound in improving life for the consumer, the vendors and the employees.
Innovation North is about helping job-creating-innovations become successful so as to deliver a broader and diverse spectrum of occupations across a range of pay larger than current found in the region. Innovation North delivers customized and specific means to ensure each business in the program is adequately cultivating innovation and processing through commercialization, all within a structure of sound business practices. Innovation North provides support in both spectrums to ensure quality results:
Our outreach is through utilizing the existing relationships of NCIC and its knowledge of the business community. We seek out the businesses most likely to be innovative and determine with the business if they fit our category of “High-Impact Business Partners” and when it does, the engagement begins immediately. Innovation North becomes deeply integrated into the businesses’ implementation team so as to assist in leading them to successful commercialization and job creation. Together we layout plans and define how to enhance strengths while ensuring weaknesses are overcome.
There is no doubt that many of these businesses exist in a tough environment. Those in Zone 1 especially are surviving in a “hunkered down” defensive mode as they saw 80% of the manufacturing jobs in the region have evaporated through the past decade. It is Innovation North’s goal to act as a catalyst to switch this defensive mind set into an offensive one when ever appropriate to help create strength in the business, jobs and profitable growth.
Each business opportunity has different needs but typically, Innovation North’s role is to provide technical assistance and financial solutions. Partnering with likeminded economic development organizations, colleges and universities, and technical assistance organizations, Innovation North is able to coordinate a broad range of customized technical support services. If a key step in commercialization is to bring in paid specialists and the business is not in a position to currently afford the cost, Innovation North offers patient capital through its Growth Readiness Fund (GRF) to ensure the project progresses and the jobs are successfully created in a timely period. Because of the funding source, we are able to customize the repayment structure so as to best fit the specific business needs.
As the business owner in the midst of commercializing its innovation while faces the day to day challenges, positioning for the best financial package becomes a tremendous added challenge. Because of the innovation and commercialization underway, the business faces change. The needs for cash are often increasing faster than sales can support yet the process to commercialize is critical. Decisions regarding debt verses equity investment are complex and the process to acquire the funds pulls on the owner’s time. Needless to say, this makes for a challenging time and critical decision making.
Traditional banking solutions and even the standard loan products in NCIC’s arsenal have been tailored to support small businesses with established product or service and predictable cash flows. Often these do not and cannot fit the needs for this stage of innovative/ entrepreneurial business opportunities, yet it is these that have the greatest potential for new economy jobs! Therefore, a major component of Innovation North services is to stream line the business’ navigation through the funding process. We help the business consider options such as bringing in investors and utilizing New Market Tax Credits, EB5 financing and alike. However here too, many do not fit.
A custom fit solution through Innovation North is its Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) offering patience to bring the business through to reaping the benefits of the innovation with a middle ground solution that does not demand the collateral requirements of bank debt and avoids the need to sell the business in order to pay out equity investors. IIF can be positioned as subordinated debt and often includes a royalty on sales so as to share the risk, reward of the innovation and make Innovation North sustainable. Such payment structures align the repayment with the business’ cash stream.
Through the GRF and IIF funding programs Innovation North is able to bring funding mechanisms specifically designed to bridging a void often currently experienced during the commercialization of innovations:
In summary, for local innovative opportunities, Innovation North delivers team participation and financial tools designed to nurture sound business development, quality commercialization and a diversified job creating potential that ultimately are key ingredients to a transformed economy.