2023 National Cade Prize for Innovation
Applications for the Cade Prize will be accepted beginning May 31, 2023.
The Cade Prize is looking for the next Gatorade.
This national competition – which celebrates early-stage inventions - is the capstone initiative of the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention in Gainesville, FL. 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 practice field from heat exhaustion and dehydration. 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 of effort 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 have remained just 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,” commented Richard Miles, who co-founded the Cade Museum with his wife, Phoebe Cade Miles.
The Cade Prize began as a Florida-based competition. In 2023, the prize expands to a national reach, and invites any inventors based anywhere in the United States to apply. The Cade Prize celebrates innovation and Inventivity™ 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 earliest stages – no prototype necessary!
Participate in the Cade Prize to join one the fastest growing innovation networks in the country, gain exposure to potential investors, various networking and promotional opportunities, and the chance to be featured on the global Inventivity™ Podcast, produced by the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention. Finalists in the Cade Prize will be awarded a total of $100,000 in cash prizes plus in-kind legal services from intellectual property attorney!
Applications for the Cade Prize will be accepted beginning May 31, 2023.
- A $55 non-refundable application fee is required to begin your application.
- The Cade Prize does not take equity in your idea if you win.
- Apply at cadeprize.awardsplatform.com
Cade Prize Events
- Applications Open - May 31, 2023
- Applications Close - July 31, 2023
- Announcement of 21 Fibonacci Finalists - August 18, 2023
- Finalists Forum - September 7, 2023
- Cade Prize Awards Ceremony - September 28, 2023 at the Cade Museum for Creativity and Invention
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 inventors and incorporated companies in all development areas.
- The prize accepts applications from the following types of organizations non-profit, for profit, and b corp.
- Must be based in the United States of America.
- 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).
- Agriculture and Environmental | Innovations that contribute to smart farming and/or provide solutions to environmental issues.
- Healthcare | Innovations that advance the prevention, diagnosis, treatment of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental complications.
- Tech | Innovations in the various areas of technology that can range from the coding of software to the manufacturing of equipment and machinery.
- Energy | Innovations that utilize physical or chemical resources to creatively produce power or clean energy.
- Wildcard | For any innovations that do not fall into the traditional prize categories.
Prize Distribution
Beginning in 2023, the Cade Prize Judging Committee will select a grand prize winner and select one winner from each category.*
- Cade Prize for Inventivity™ Grand Prize Winner: $50,000
- Cade Prize for Innovation in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences: $10,000
- Cade Prize for Innovation in Healthcare Technology: $10,000
- Cade Prize for Innovation in Tech: $10,000
- Cade Prize for Innovation in Energy: $10,000
- Cade Prize for Innovation in the Wildcard Category: $10,000
In-Kind Services and Additional Benefits
Finalists are provided with in-kind services from the Saliwanchik, Lloyd, and Eisenschenk law office (SLE). SLE has provided its clients with exceptional legal services in the field of intellectual property since 1981. The Cade Museum provides opportunities for various speaking engagements, which include but are not limited to, the Cade’s “Meet an Inventor” Program, Cade’s Speakers Series, and a featured guest spot on the Inventivity™ Podcast. The Cade Prize program also provides exposure to numerous investment firms and angel investors.
For more information, contact cadeprize@cademuseum.org.
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.
Special thanks to our sponsors:
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Scott R. MacKenzie 
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