A ‘LinkedIn For Innovation’: Sciony, The Platform Connecting Innovators With Businesses And Investors

In an increasingly competitive business world, as an inventor, getting your pitches in front of potential investors can feel impossible. Building your industry network is crucial, but making effective connections with people who can propel your idea skywards is a difficult process, particularly for new entrepreneurs. Attempting to make these links through social media platforms is laborious and time-consuming - and ‘time’ is one commodity entrepreneurs have in limited supply.

Some may chance their arm at the TV-pitching format. While the handful of Shark Tank and Dragons’ Den success stories receive great publicity, the reality behind these ‘reality shows’ is that the competition for places is unthinkably high. For an entrepreneur, these routes are simply not viable.

Sciony has devised a solution. It offers a digital space for entrepreneurs looking to share their ideas and pitch them to industry leaders. Essentially a ‘LinkedIn for Innovation’, Sciony is an online platform that connects inventors and investors, while also offering means for entrepreneurial guidance and collaboration. Once they publish their projects on Sciony, these are seen by investors that are seeking new start-ups to add to their portfolio and to partner with. Additionally, experts from over 280 services that are on the platform can help the entrepreneurs to commercialize their ideas and improve their proposition.

There are three key pillars to the Sciony model: the inventors, the investors and the experts. This three-sided marketplace makes the platform unique, and creates an exciting hub of ideas. For example, a number of ‘big pharma’ companies use Sciony to scout for bright minds that can offer innovative solutions that large corporations often cannot find through their own Research & Development programs.

As well as searching for existing projects, investors can publish specific problems that they are searching for a solution to. Inventors on Sciony with relevant experience can then set about finding an answer, and the platform provides them with the opportunity to connect directly with investors and other entrepreneurs that are also trying to solve the challenge.

One problem faced by entrepreneurs is that it is worryingly easy for people to copy their ideas if they do not have a patent. Sciony solves this problem through Intellectual Property (IP) protection, as in ven tors only publicly release a basic description of their project on the platform. Confidential information is not shared with investors until the entrepreneur decides to allow the company’s request for more details on their project. On other idea-sharing platforms, once the idea is posted publicly, this can mean you immediately lose the right to protect your patent.

Entrepreneurs on Sciony can also create a private logbook, in which they collate their business’ data, such as information about finances and company registration. Again, this information is only accessible if an interested party requests it, and the inventor then chooses to grant this. As an additional measure of security, the entrepreneur can even integrate a Non-Disclosure Agreement that becomes activated when anyone views the logbook.

Free membership for inventors enables entrepreneurs to easily access this marketplace of ideas and get their projects seen by key investors. The primary aim of Sciony is to improve synergy between entrepreneurs, investors and experts, where a collaborative environment is engendered, rather than simply facilitating buy-outs.

Only 0.05% of start-ups are able to raise venture capital, and 77% of these businesses rely solely on personal funds to get their ideas off the ground. Through Sciony, the process of gaining investment and guidance is made significantly easier; this platform is already making big strides towards its goal of "democratizing innovation."