2022 Cade Prize
Applications for the Cade Prize will be accepted June 1st, 2022-August 1st, 2022.
- $55 non-refundable application fee is required to begin your application
- The Cade Prize does not take equity in your idea if you win.
- To apply go to: cadeprize.awardsplatform.com
Cade Prize Events
Applications Open - June 1, 2022
Applications Close - August 1, 2022
Round One Judging - August 2-12, 2022
Announcement of 21 Fibonacci Finalists - August 15th, 2022
Fibonacci Forum -September 8th, 2022, at the Cade Museum - Open to the public
Round Two Judging - September 8-19, 2022
Final Five Announcement - September 22, 2022
Invent Possible Tour + Cade Prize Ceremony - September 29th, 2022, at the Cade Museum
For more information, contact cadeprize@cademuseum.org with questions.
About the Cade Prize
The Cade Prize is looking for the next Gatorade. The annual competition – which celebrates early-stage inventions - is the capstone initiative of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville. The museum is named after Dr. James Robert Cade, Gatorade’s lead inventor.
Dr. Cade was a professor of renal medicine at the University of Florida. In 1965, he found a solution to a real problem: football players collapsing on the University of Florida’s field from heat exhaustion. Cade and his team tested a sports drink that replaced electrolytes lost through sweat. Gatorade was born.
But taking an idea – like Gatorade – and moving it beyond the lab and into the marketplace can take years and significant resources. Capital is needed to help secure patents, licensing, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing. Without foundational financial support, many start-ups - like Gatorade - would remain a lab experiment.
That’s the motivation behind the Cade Prize. “All inventors need is a little money and a lot of encouragement to get them to the next level - so they have a better chance of attracting bigger funders,” said Richard Miles, who co-founded the Cade Museum with his wife, Phoebe Cade Miles.
Since 2010, the Cade Prize has celebrated innovation by identifying, recognizing, and celebrating inventors and entrepreneurs, who, through an innovative invention, demonstrate a creative approach to addressing problems in their field of expertise. The Cade Prize is unique in that it awards innovation at its early stages – no prototype necessary! As one of the largest cash prize competitions for innovation based in Florida, the Cade Prize has drawn hundreds of creative thinkers from diverse sectors who enter cutting-edge inventions with real market potential.
Geography: The Cade Prize currently accepts applications from companies based in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.
Prizes: The Cade Prize awards $64,000 in cash prizes: $34,000 for first place, $13,000 for second place, $8,000 for third place, $5,000 for fourth place, $3,000 for fifth place and $1,000 for the People’s Choice Award. Patent attorneys, Saliwanchik, Lloyd & Eisenschenk, provide in-kind services for the Cade Prize final five finalists.
Eligibility: The Cade Prize for Innovation is designed to help inventors move beyond invention and into the marketplace. The prize accepts applications from both independent and university nominated inventors and companies.
Independent
Timeline:
April-May: Networking and informational events held throughout Atlanta, Georgia, and Florida
June-August: Accepting Applications
August: Round One of Judging and Announcement of 21 Fibonacci Finalists
September: Fibonacci Forum, Announcement of Final Five, Awards Ceremony
R1 University Partnership: The Cade Prize currently partners with 14 nominating R1 universities each year. Nominating universities are each eligible to nominate one entry for an automatic advancement into the second round of judging.
About the Cade Museum: The mission of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida, is to transform communities by inspiring and equipping future inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. Named after Mary Cade and her husband, Dr. James Robert Cade, the lead inventor of Gatorade, the project was spearheaded by their daughter, Phoebe Cade Miles, and her husband, Richard Miles, since 2006. They encourage the development of innovation ecosystems through the Cade Prize for Innovation, the Cade's proprietary Innovation Education learning framework, and the 21,000-square-foot hands-on learning museum that promotes the development of an inventive mindset which the Cade calls Inventivity™. The Cade believes every person should have access to the right to invent and innovate inherent in America’s DNA and works diligently in outreach efforts to bring this understanding to all, with an emphasis on the underserved. To learn more, visit cademuseum.org.
Dr. Cade was a professor of renal medicine at the University of Florida. In 1965, he found a solution to a real problem: football players collapsing on the University of Florida’s field from heat exhaustion. Cade and his team tested a sports drink that replaced electrolytes lost through sweat. Gatorade was born.
But taking an idea – like Gatorade – and moving it beyond the lab and into the marketplace can take years and significant resources. Capital is needed to help secure patents, licensing, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing. Without foundational financial support, many start-ups - like Gatorade - would remain a lab experiment.
That’s the motivation behind the Cade Prize. “All inventors need is a little money and a lot of encouragement to get them to the next level - so they have a better chance of attracting bigger funders,” said Richard Miles, who co-founded the Cade Museum with his wife, Phoebe Cade Miles.
Since 2010, the Cade Prize has celebrated innovation by identifying, recognizing, and celebrating inventors and entrepreneurs, who, through an innovative invention, demonstrate a creative approach to addressing problems in their field of expertise. The Cade Prize is unique in that it awards innovation at its early stages – no prototype necessary! As one of the largest cash prize competitions for innovation based in Florida, the Cade Prize has drawn hundreds of creative thinkers from diverse sectors who enter cutting-edge inventions with real market potential.
Geography: The Cade Prize currently accepts applications from companies based in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.
Prizes: The Cade Prize awards $64,000 in cash prizes: $34,000 for first place, $13,000 for second place, $8,000 for third place, $5,000 for fourth place, $3,000 for fifth place and $1,000 for the People’s Choice Award. Patent attorneys, Saliwanchik, Lloyd & Eisenschenk, provide in-kind services for the Cade Prize final five finalists.
Eligibility: The Cade Prize for Innovation is designed to help inventors move beyond invention and into the marketplace. The prize accepts applications from both independent and university nominated inventors and companies.
Independent
- Must be based in Georgia, Alabama, or Florida
- Must have no more than $500,000 in outside investment funding from investors received in exchange for stock, convertible note, or other similar instrument issued by the company (excluding grants, personal funds, in-kind support, competition prizes, or loans from friends and family)
- Must be officially nominated by a Cade Prize partner institution (please see below for list of partners)
- Must be based in Georgia, Alabama, or Florida
- Must have no more than $500,000 in outside investment funding from investors received in exchange for stock, convertible note, or other similar instrument issued by the company (excluding grants, personal funds, in-kind support, competition prizes, or loans from friends and family)
Timeline:
April-May: Networking and informational events held throughout Atlanta, Georgia, and Florida
June-August: Accepting Applications
August: Round One of Judging and Announcement of 21 Fibonacci Finalists
September: Fibonacci Forum, Announcement of Final Five, Awards Ceremony
R1 University Partnership: The Cade Prize currently partners with 14 nominating R1 universities each year. Nominating universities are each eligible to nominate one entry for an automatic advancement into the second round of judging.
- Auburn University
- University of Alabama
- University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Florida Atlantic University, Florida International University
- Florida State University, University of Central Florida
- University of Florida
- University of Miami
- University of South Florida
- Emory University
- Georgia Institute of Technology
- Georgia State University
- University of Georgia
About the Cade Museum: The mission of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, Florida, is to transform communities by inspiring and equipping future inventors, entrepreneurs, and visionaries. Named after Mary Cade and her husband, Dr. James Robert Cade, the lead inventor of Gatorade, the project was spearheaded by their daughter, Phoebe Cade Miles, and her husband, Richard Miles, since 2006. They encourage the development of innovation ecosystems through the Cade Prize for Innovation, the Cade's proprietary Innovation Education learning framework, and the 21,000-square-foot hands-on learning museum that promotes the development of an inventive mindset which the Cade calls Inventivity™. The Cade believes every person should have access to the right to invent and innovate inherent in America’s DNA and works diligently in outreach efforts to bring this understanding to all, with an emphasis on the underserved. To learn more, visit cademuseum.org.
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