If you’ve been wondering where to put your creative or entrepreneurial talent to good use, the right opportunity has arrived: Enter the SCALE (Supply Chain and Logistics Enterprises) Challenge, an open innovation contest organized by The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) and supported by the Walton Family Foundation.
The SCALE Challenge is a global innovation challenge meant to disrupt the supply chain and logistics industry sector by equipping teams of creators and entrepreneurs with the inventions, training, and network they need to launch the industry’s next breakthrough startup.
Learn more about this incredible opportunity and how you can participate below!
About the Challenge
The Center for Advancing Innovation (CAI) has been described as the “Tinder for Startups” and “Shark Tank on Steroids,” with its award-winning challenge-accelerator model and mission to identify breakthrough inventions and maximize their commercial potential.Their latest open innovation contest, supported by the Walton Family Foundation, will launch 20+ startups around inventions with the potential for transformational impact on the supply chain and logistics industry sector. The selected companies will be brought to Northwest Arkansas and connected to potential partners such as Walmart, Tyson, J.B. Hunt, and the University of Arkansas.
For the challenge, CAI evaluated thousands of inventions that hold promise for the supply chain, transportation, and logistics space. Inventions include technology in the areas of artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles, drones, robotics, 3D printing, machine learning, augmented reality, and virtual reality. From this diverse pool of technologies, an invention selection committee, comprised of industry experts and potential investors, chose 20+ de-risked inventions to advance through the SCALE Challenge. In addition, existing startups and teams may enter with their own promising inventions or ideas, which will be evaluated by CAI in order to be included in the challenge.
How to Participate
- Enter as a team. Teams may compete to commercialize selected inventions mentioned above or enter with their own inventions. Individuals are also invited to sign up so that CAI can pair them with a team.
- Become an advocate. Advocates are thought of as leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, experts, and professionals who offer their time to advise teams, evaluate startups, sponsor them, and advocate for the CAI challenge-accelerator model.
- Participate as an artist. In a unique twist, CAI will be including artists in the SCALE Challenge to help cultivate and nurture the creative thinking of the participating teams.
How to Participate
- Enter as a team. Teams may compete to commercialize selected inventions mentioned above or enter with their own inventions. Individuals are also invited to sign up so that CAI can pair them with a team.
- Become an advocate. Advocates are thought of as leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, experts, and professionals who offer their time to advise teams, evaluate startups, sponsor them, and advocate for the CAI challenge-accelerator model.
- Participate as an artist. In a unique twist, CAI will be including artists in the SCALE Challenge to help cultivate and nurture the creative thinking of the participating teams.
Upcoming Information Sessions
For those in the region, the SCALE Challenge will be hosting two local information sessions on July 16th, 2019. Organizers are looking for entrepreneurial-minded people who would like to create a high tech startup and/or be a mentor as well as those who are already working in the regional startup ecosystem. That day, in the early afternoon, an information session will take place in Fayetteville from 1:30 pm to 3 pm at the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub, located at 123 West Mountain Street. Then, in the late afternoon, another session will take place in Bentonville from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm at Grit Studios, which is located at 125 West Central Ave #200.
Whether you think you have what it takes to bring your creative skillset to this challenge or you’re an experienced entrepreneur who can offer mentoring to the next generation of amazing startups in Northwest Arkansas, you can help redefine the supply chain and cement the region’s legacy as a destination for creators and disruptors.
