Invest Nova Scotia is looking for applicants to the winter cohort of its Early Stage Commercialization Fund for university research, which offers startups up to $50,000 of funding.

The money can go towards assessing a product’s market potential, developing go-to-market strategies and other planning, finishing a proof-of-concept, prototyping and leveraging other funds.

And for the third time this year, Invest Nova Scotia has partnered with the provincial Department of Natural Resources and Renewables to offer an additional, low-carbon commercialization stream, with the two organizations jointly developing the evaluation process and curriculum.

“ESCF helps move Nova Scotia university, college and university-affiliated hospital research to market,” says Invest Nova Scotia. “The purpose of ESCF is to provide support for projects demonstrating readiness to advance a technology that has achieved, or is close to achieving, a prototype/proof-of-concept stage and is approaching market readiness with a possibility of attracting industry partners and/or investment.

"The prospect of generating a new revenue stream must also be apparent.”

The program is open to post-secondary researchers who want to license their technology or spin it off into a venture-backable company, but preference is given to the latter group.

Nova Scotia university and college faculty members, as well as staff and clinicians in university-affiliated hospitals, are eligible to apply for the Early Stage Commercialization Fund. The deadline is Feb. 12. Interested researchers can learn more and apply here.