BioInspired! So What? Now What!

The challenge of funding often comes up in bio-inspired design discussions and generates a lot of interest, as demonstrated by the April 2015 B3D webinar on funding hosted by Margo Farnsworth.  MaRS, the Toronto Discovery District’s commercialization hub, is developing a three-part online course that focuses on funding for tech and science-based startups but appears applicable to BID.  Each module is divided into short video clips with associated readings.  The first module incorporates an early version of Antony Upward's Strongly Sustainable Business Model, described at Flourishing is the Outcome; Design is the Process.

The course is designed for entrepreneurs preparing for their seed fundraising round. Through a series of video lessons, users learn actionable tasks to get investment-ready, prepare due diligence documents and discover alternatives to angel and VC capital.

Introduction to Investment Readiness has three modules that will be released between January 11 and 29, and they will stay open after that.

Making the first online course available is part of our efforts at MaRS to deepen our online content and provide entrepreneurs and innovators with more resources to build upon their knowledge. It’s also a great opportunity to reach those who are not within range of us in Toronto, or one of Ontario’s regional innovation centres in the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs.

We are kicking off the course with live Q&As with funding experts. Join us for our Week 1 Q&A with Amie Sergas, Director, Regional and Funding Programs, Business Acceleration Program (BAP), MaRS Discovery District. For Week 2, Rob Scully, Associate Director, MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, will take part (stay tuned for schedule details).