(Commonwealth Union)_ It takes more than a solid idea to win the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Innovation Showcase, a social purpose technology competition. And it needs more than a mobile app with dubious real-world utility. The three winning teams, which you can read about below, worked on their hardware projects for numerous years and revisions. They are all getting close to practicality, with reasonable business models that take into consideration local factors, as well as manufacturing and legal issues. These are not frothy apps.
ASME is all about hardware, and it expects genuine hardware innovation. While ASME’s claim to be the “first global competition for hardware with a social purpose” is dubious (there are many innovation contests these days), it is true that purpose innovation contests tend to focus on mobile apps and software rather than hardware, which is more difficult and time-consuming to execute.
“You can’t have influence unless you have a scalable business plan and can reach people in a financially viable way,” says Paul Scott, the showcase’s director. “We’re not focusing on sexy ideas that generate a lot of [publicity], that are feel-good endeavours with a low likelihood of success. We’re attempting to delve further than the prototype, all the way down to the manufacturing and tax ramifications.”
ASME attracts chief technology officers from corporations such as GE Healthcare, IBM, and Philips, as well as a number of prominent entrepreneurs and academics. The winners will be able to work with professionals from venture capital and big business, as well as receive 25 hours of design consulting from Catapult and up to $50,000 in seed grant financing.
That is why companies such as BioLite, a New York-based manufacturer of off-grid energy devices started in 2009 and best known for its off-grid outdoor stove, competed again this year. “It takes a long time to get a hardware device like this to market, and not many firms have been successful,” Scott says. “When we looked into BioLite, we were surprised that they wanted to be a part of it. However, they were looking for engineering talent in our network and wanted to drill down. What [the accelerator] space lacks is access to folks who have done it.”
BioLite, along with the other two winners, have designed their technologies to have a real, tangible impact on the lives of people in underdeveloped countries; the technical and business assistance provided by the ASME challenge will ensure that they attain their full potential.
According to the startup, the BioLite HomeStove cuts household smoke emissions by up to 90% and uses 50% less fuel than open cooking. The decrease of emissions is critical: Smoking in the house is responsible for up to 4 million fatalities worldwide each year. At the same time, the HomeStove creates electricity that can be used to charge mobile phones and lights.
BioLite pioneered the “parallel innovation” model. That instance, the costs of developing HomeStoves for African villages are compensated by revenue from complementing items sold in the United States, such as cook-stoves, off-grid lights, and solar panel products (including an interesting-looking solar-powered backpack).
“The near-term revenue earned from our developed markets provides us with the funds to invest in building our developing markets business to a point of economic sustainability,” BioLte CEO Jonathan Cedar told Entrepreneur. “This differs from a one-for-one approach [like Toms] in that once our developing markets reach critical mass, they can maintain themselves economically through customer-driven demand rather than relying on an influx of gifts.”
