Arthritis Ideator Awards Application Process

Arthritis Ideator Award Applications

Who Can Apply?  

Arthritis Society Canada invites ideators, entrepreneurs and start-ups across Canada to submit their innovative ideas to the Arthritis Ideator Awards^TM. Applicants must be Canadian and the original creator/inventor and owner of the intellectual property that is being submitted. Eligibility will be determined by our panel of experts and although it is an open application process, success in the competition will be determined by how well each submission meets the selection criteria. 

Selection Criteria

The following criteria will be utilized to select the finalists and winning applicants: 

Founder(s) credibility (background, experience of founders) 
Uniqueness (originality of innovation) 
Desirability (is this an innovation that individuals with arthritis need) 
Evidence based (research, science and/or market validation of innovation) 
Financial viability (ability to raise funds and market/sell innovation) 
Readiness for market (how ready the innovation is for market) 
Impact (potential for significant and lasting outcomes for people with arthritis) 
Scalability (how well the innovation can be scaled)

Application Format and Process 

Applications will be accepted in the form of a pitch deck emailed to innovation@arthritis.ca by midnight on December 21, 2022. 

There is no prescribed format or length required for the pitch deck, but we encourage applications to consider creativity, clarity and the selection criteria when formulating their decks. Pitch decks should not exceed 10MB in size. If they are larger than 10MB, we ask that you utilize a secure file sharing program with a direct link to your pitch deck. 

Selection Panel 

Applications for Arthritis Ideator Awards^TM funding will be reviewed by expert panels that include clinicians, researchers, consumers and technology experts. The panels will then select eight finalists based on potential impact, financial viability and market/research validation.  

The eight finalists will then be invited to present their innovative ideas to a five-person panel of judges, comprised of one Arthritis Society Canada representative and four VIP representatives, at the Arthritis Ideator Awards^TM on April 20, 2023, the day before World Creativity and Innovation Day.  