McGill.CA / McGill Innovation Fund (MIF) / How to Apply

How to Prepare your Presentation

Before you begin preparing your presentation it is important to understand that the MIF aims to provide financial, as well as business support to McGill researchers who would like to commercialise their invention. This support will be tailored to your business needs, i.e., IP, business plan, target market, production process, path to commercialization, etc. The application process is therefore focused on your business project, (your progress to date, your vision for your company, your plan, etc.), rather than on the science of the invention. Therefore the focus of your presentation must be to allow the jury to better understand your business project and the impact it will have. Approach this deck as a business pitch to potential investors, not to fellow academics.

Your presentation deck should include the following elements:

  • Project description
  • Progress to date
  • Team
  • Business opportunity or impact
  • Business model explanation
  • Partners
  • Your expectations from the MIF
  • Budget

Each of these elements is described below.

Project description

Your description should answer the following questions:

  • What is your invention?
  • What is the background and context of the invention?
  • What are the benefits and limitations of the invention?
  • What field is the project aimed at?

Impact

  • What are the potential real-world applications of your invention?
  • What are the potential impacts of your project (social, commercial, environmental)?
  • What impact will the MIF funds have on the development of your business?

Progress to date

  • Provide a brief history of the project/ technology/ company so far.
  • What is the current status of the project/ technology/ company?
  • What is the long term vision of your project?
  • What is the timeline and critical steps to achieve your long term vision?

Your team

Present the members of your team, their expertise and the role they will play in the development of the company.

Business opportunity or impact

There are different ways to convey this, but they could involve questions such as the following: What opportunity does your potential business aim to capitalize on? Why hasn't anyone done this before? Who will this benefit and what is the value of this?

Business model explanation

How will your business operate? Are you aiming to produce a product that you sell to individual customers or a service? What suppliers do you require to manufacture your product? How will you reach your customers, and through what distribution system? These kinds of questions need to be answered to demonstrate that there is a functioning business model at the heart of your project. For some teams, it may be too early to make these decisions, but more advanced teams can expect to face questions like these.

Project partners

List all the organizations involved in your project and their role:
  • Potential clients
  • Production partners
  • Clinical trial partners
  • Testing partners
  • Financial partners
  • Business and technical advisors

Your expectations from the MIF

  • What do you need help with to advance your business project?
  • What do you want to accomplish in the next 12 months?

Budget

The budget should demonstrate that the funding will play a critical role in the advancement of the project. Be as specific as possible as to how you plan to use the funding. The following table is how your budget should be structured:

Description

Amount

Justification

People (salaries, fees, etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sub-total

 

Consumables

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sub-total

 

Other

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sub-total

 

Total

 
 
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