What is the best way to fund the manufacture of a new invention?
The invention could also be used for light duty compact CVT applications in wind turbines, or motorcycles.
What is the best way to raise funding for the project?
The design is complete, a provisional patent has been applied for, the next step is manufacturing a prototype. I am looking for $25K for a 6% ownership. (negotiable) Or I would be willing to trade % to someone who would want to take the idea to market themselves. Is this realistic?
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M$3 Answers
Under grants.gov look for the SBIR program, otherwise known as the Small Business Innovation Research program. Every government agency has a set aside of a percentage of money, that has to go to small businesses. I do not know the exact percentage, but there is a lot of money available here to highly qualified individuals (usually Ph.D but MS are sometimes funded). One of the largest pots of money is the Department of Defense and here is their solicitation:
http://www.dodsbir.net/solicitation/sbir093/preface093.htm
They give step by step guides to writing a proposal, including fill in forms, and I believe you can submit the entire package online. I would peruse this solicitation to get an idea of what may be necessary.
The money is free, if you qualify, with very few strings attached. For example, you would own the patents, although the government would own a royalty free license for a period of time.
The proposals are around 25 pages or so and follow a preset format. There are several phases. Phase I guidelines are here:
http://www.dodsbir.net/solicitation/sbir093/preface093.htm#Phase_I_Format3_5
All the agencies follow a similar format as above. Somewhere on this site, you can find a list of topics they are interested in, and past award winners. Also by registering, you have access to the military's library of unclassified reports.
Check it out!
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M$
You can leave an optional "tip" with Mahalo's virtual currency, Mahalo Dollars. If you are asking a difficult question that might require some research, or if you'd like a wide variety of feedback, a higher tip often leads to more answers to your question.
M$
http://www.insidetheinvention.com/
Funding is about who you know, and I think this may be one of the best tips I have seen on the topic of Developing New Products
"Join a local chamber. Here you will meet others like yourself--people pursuing business ideas. Take some time to get to know others before being in a 'selling mode.' Relationships developed at these types of organizations pay off over time. Sometimes chambers have time set aside that members can describe their new products to the group so always take advantage of those times even if your product is not fully created yet. You can still offer some details about it as long as you don't impede your ability to file for a patent by doing so."
http://invention.lifetips.com/cat/64054/developing-new-products/
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M$
