By Mary Dickson
While visiting Chicago recently, President Obama remarked to the crowd, “Ordinary folks can do extraordinary things.” Call me crazy, but I think Obama just might kick back with Everyday Edisons in his downtime, for this ode to extraordinary capabilities is kind of our mantra.
Edison Nation (a sister company of Inventors Digest) is taking Obama up on his motivating charge for a modern-day “Sputnik” moment. In March, Edison Nation – the company behind the popular web platform and inventor-entrepreneur community – launched the Edison Nation Innovation Fund worth $25 million.
Wow – $25 million in funding. That’s a lot of money to spread around for those willing to work for it.
Prior to the Fund’s official launch, Edison Nation conducted a scientifically valid poll to gauge Americans’ thoughts on innovation. The results? Thought-provoking.
The poll discovered 95% of Americans believe innovation and new inventions will aid the country’s economic recovery. While four in 10 Americans have ideas for new inventions or improvements to existing products, just 9% have applied for a U.S. patent.
What took the wind out of the inventive sails of these hopeful “Edisons”? Lack of money, connections, expertise and/or time.
The Edison Nation Innovation Fund provides a new source of financing for these everyday Americans who have ideas – in any stage of development – for new product innovations and technologies.
“With the establishment of the Edison Nation Innovation Fund, it seemed vital to take a survey of Americans’ thoughts, feelings and pursuits when it comes to the inventive spirit,” says Louis Foreman, co-founder of Edison Nation.
“It’s particularly interesting to see that those people with ideas for new innovations were halted due to a lack of resources that our new fund and our Edison Nation team will now be able to provide,” he added.
The Edison Nation Innovation Fund will host an ongoing series of searches on the Edison Nation website for both patented and non-patented ideas. Members can safely submit their original concepts and ideas for consideration. If selected, Edison Nation will invest up to $250,000 to develop the concept, patent protect the idea and bring it to market.
There is no limit to the number of ideas the Edison Nation team will choose to invest in from each search. With the widespread success of Gyro Bowl, Emery Cat and Mister Steamy, Edison Nation hopes to find more ideas that have this million-unit-selling potential.
“Just like our Edison Nation community, we’re true inventor-entrepreneurs at heart,” says Todd Stancombe, president of Edison Nation. “As a company, we identified a critical need felt by independent inventors and have diligently worked to create a viable solution with the introduction of this fund.”
Edison Nation is free to join. To submit an idea to the Edison Nation Innovation Fund is $100 an idea, and $35 for Edison Insiders. If your idea is chosen at search’s close, you will have Edison Nation as your development partner for life.
Visit www.edisonnation.com/searches
Editor’s note: This article appears in the June 2011 print edition.
