The i3S has just launched an international award aimed at rewarding innovative ideas in health. Called the i3SHovione Capital Innovation Prize, this award is a unique initiative to bring together a research institute and a venture capital company with a goal of creating new products and helps the development of new companies in the areas of health and biomedicine. This partnership has the support of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT-Health) because of the cross-border nature of the award.
The i3S has invested heavily in the mobilization of knowledge within the corporate realm, with the aim of making the knowledge produced in research institutes more profitable. As explained by Margarida Rossi, i3S specialist in knowledge transfer, «it is essential to value the knowledge produced, because the creation of new medical products is a clear form of return on investment made into research or because creating new companies increases demand for jobs that absorbs the highly qualified human resources we have been training». It’s therefore easy to see why the country's largest health research and innovation institute has partnered with one of the most important investment companies, Hovione Capital, to create an instrument that encourages researchers and entrepreneurs to put their ideas into practice in technology development.
Hugo Prazeres, who is also involved in knowledge transfer at the i3S and in the organization of this award, says that «everyone comes out a winner in this partnership: the Institute for creating an atmosphere of excellence for innovation, Hovione Capital by having access and early participation in the the emergence of new ideas and, above all, entrepreneurs for having an opportunity to embody their innovative ideas».
The team involved in the launch of this initiative want to go much further than simply awarding a prize. «The way we are organizing the award of the i3S-Hovione Capital Innovation Prize», says John Cortez, «will bring to the scene other partners who can add more investment». The awarding of the prize is therefore an instrument to create multiple synergies between investors and entrepreneurs that are not limited to the value of 35 thousand euros (5 thousand of which is cash) which is awarded to the winner. «We are sure that in September, in the event of selection and delivery of the prize, many other investment opportunities will arise, both for the winners and the other participants in the competition, given the interest shown by several investors and partners since we started to create this prize», says João Cortez.
All information about the first award of the i3S-Hovione Capital Innovation Prize is available at http://prize.i3s.up.pt/ The grand winner will be announced on September 28th.