i.d.e.a. Fund

i.d.e.a.™ Fund
inclusion | diversity | environment | acceleration

Driving sustainable and circular economy growth in southern Ontario.

i.d.e.a. Fund is a program that fosters inclusion, diversity, environment and acceleration while driving sustainable and circular economy growth, and is delivered in partnership with the following Ontario Regional Innovation Centres (RICs): Boundless Accelerator™, Innovate Niagara, Innovation Factory, Launch Lab, TechAlliance of Southwestern Ontario, and WEtech Alliance.

This program will provide specialized industry expertise to develop growth plans and related strategies in areas such as talent attraction, raising follow-on investment, product development and quantification of product benefits/market value propositions, commercialization of intellectual property, and market diversification. Each RIC will distribute up to a maximum of $20,000 in matching seed funding to select innovative businesses in various sectors.

The i.d.e.a. Fund will drive sustainable and circular economy growth by accepting high-potential businesses that commit to developing new green products, services, processes, and technologies and/or redesigning existing products, services, processes, and technologies to reduce their environmental impacts.

Who is this program for?

The RICs have supported over 310 companies in the i.d.e.a. Fund programming. Cohort 4 will support another 75 companies.

Eligible i.d.e.a. Fund companies:

One or two team members of the business’ leadership team are available to participate in the program
The applicant must be an early-stage business or Small to Medium Enterprise (1-499 employees), and the business must be headquartered in Southern Ontario (regions are outlined in Appendix A)
Business must be incorporated (Ontario or federal)
Business owner/founder must be working in the business full-time
Business must have a scalable product or service
One or two team members are available to participate in an online certificate program with the University of Guelph

NOTE: Previous participants cannot participate in future rounds of the i.d.e.a. Fund programming.

12 companies have been selected for Cohort 4 of i.d.e.a Fund through Innovate Niagara

Across southern Ontario, 75 companies received non-repayable contributions of $1,485,000 in Cohort 4 of i.d.e.a Fund. View the full list HERE. The Innovate Niagara-supported companies in Cohort 3 are:

.

What to Expect
How does this program work?

Seed Funding + Support
You May Receive:

Non-repayable seed funding of up to $20,000 with matching funds
Up to 30 hours of fully funded, targeted support from business leaders

Expert Help

Our experts have the knowledge and experience to help you address challenges and move your business forward in all areas including:

growth plans and strategies
talent attraction
raising follow-on investment
market diversification
product development
quantification of product benefits
market value propositions
commercialization of intellectual property,
… and more

Who can apply?

We're looking for 72 companies that are:

high potential businesses that have growth potential
committed to reducing their impact on the environment by developing new or redesigning products, services, processes or technologies.

Register for one of our Upcoming Virtual Information Sessions

Join us for a virtual information session to learn more about this exciting program! There will be an opportunity for live Q&A with the i.d.e.a. Fund team throughout each session. Click the images below to register for one of our upcoming sessions.

June 16, 2025 | 8:30 to 10:00am EST.

ASL Interpretation included for first session

June 25, 2025 | 3:30 to 5:00pm EST.

July 4, 2025 | 12:00 to 1:30pm EST.

*a recording of the June 16 information session including ASL Interpretation will is available on www.idea-fund.ca as of June 17, 2025.

How to Apply
Applications for Cohort 4 of i.d.e.a. Fund are open June 16, 2025 to July 7, 2025.

APPLY HERE

For full selection criteria for the past cohorts, consult the i.d.e.a. Fund 2024 Program Guide: SOEIF-ideaFundProgramGuide09032024.pdf

Contact information@innovateniagara.com for more information!

Frequently Asked Questions

I.d.e.a Fund FAQs

Innovate Niagara provided 12 companies with $240,000 through Cohort 3 of i.d.e.a. Fund

Across southern Ontario, 73 companies received non-repayable contributions of $1,480,000 in Cohort 3 of i.d.e.a Fund. View the full list HERE. The Innovate Niagara-supported companies in Cohort 3 are:

Innovate Niagara provided 22 companies with $660,000 through Cohort 2 of i.d.e.a. Fund

Across southern Ontario, 125 companies received non-repayable contributions of $3,750,000 in Cohort 2 of i.d.e.a Fund. View the full list HERE. The Innovate Niagara-supported companies in Cohort 2 are:

Innovate Niagara provided 19 companies with $547,619 through Cohort 1 of i.d.e.a. Fund

Across southern Ontario, approximately 120 companies received non-repayable contributions of up to $3,600,000 through Cohort 1 of i.d.e.a Fund. View the full list HERE. The Innovate Niagara-supported companies in Cohort 1 are: