Today, we announce another exciting Innovation Fund selection. While we couldn’t be more pleased to move forward with this submission, both our selection and announcement of this idea is very bittersweet. On September 13, shortly after learning that his Innovation Fund submission had been selected to move forward, Edison Nation member, John Lynch, passed away. Knowing how much John believed in his idea, his brother Bill Lynch has stepped up in hopes of seeing the idea through on his brother’s behalf.

About John Lynch

John grew up in a family of craftsmen and inventors. With a father who was a carpenter craftsman, and his brother an architect-engineer and printer, the family often joked about their obsession with innovation, calling it “the family disease.” With only a high school education, John had many interests and talents; most notably his aptitude for numbers and his knack for invention. John’s family remembers him designing and building an analog “sports car rally computer” in 1963 – years before electronic calculators and portable computers became commercially available. He was also known for making countless “improvements” for household devices and even obtained patents for the most promising designs. For recreation, John enjoyed experimentation with magnetic motors and explored countless approaches for harnessing the power of fixed magnets in an effort to produce useful energy.

With a varied business career throughout his life, it was while watching the work of commercial printers that John witnessed a technique that sent his creative wheels turning. He began thinking of ways to use a similar design and technique to create ease when using a common home and office supply. Realizing that the basic design of the product had remained unchanged for years, he set out to develop a new design that he believed would be a major advance in the industry.

John submitted the idea to our Innovation Fund and we now look forward to moving his idea into our Concept Research Phase with a goal of bringing John’s product to market and continuing his legacy.

Congratulations to John and Bill Lynch on moving forward in our Innovation Fund process!

We are excited to announce another selection from those ideas submitted to Round I of our $25 Million Innovation Fund! Roger Berent & Kyle Hulewat’s idea will move into our Concept Research Phase, the first gate in our selection process to determine if we can bring this idea to market!

More about Roger and Kyle

As partners in their architecture firm, Roger Berent and Kyle Hulewat have always been interested in design. According to the two, this has created a natural progression into inventing, which is often borne from the necessity required by their designs. It was, in fact, one day while sitting around their architecture office discussing a new material sample,  that Roger and Kyle came up with what they felt would be an interesting, new way to use the material. As they brainstormed further, the pair established three “rules” or features their product would include, and with that, began working on a prototype. Though they ran into some setbacks in the prototyping phase, the duo eventually refined their idea, developed multiple variations, and even obtained a patent.

While making several steps in the right direction on their own, like many inventors, Roger and Kyle sought assistance with taking their invention to the next level — a bonafide product sold on store shelves. Both had become fans of Everyday Edisons after watching the first season, and upon researching the show, Roger came across Edison Nation. He continued to watch for new product searches in hopes of finding one that would be a fit for the idea, and finally felt he found the perfect opportunity when the $25 Million Innovation Fund was announced.  Roger immediately signed up  and submitted the idea.

Now that Roger and Kevin have been selected to move forward, our team will work hard and put our best efforts behind their idea in hopes of fulfilling their goal of seeing it on store shelves.

Our team continues to review ideas from our Innovation Fund to determine which will continue on to the next stage, and today we’re excited to announce another selection!

Edison Nation is a diverse community. We’ve seen great ideas come from a sketch on a napkin to refined prototypes and production samples. Today, we’re congratulating both an independent inventor and his design team.

Trevis Kurz and the team at Trident Design are moving into our Concept Research Phase! Learn more about what occurs during the Concept Research Phase here.

Trevis’ Story

As an Ohio State University student studying Industrial Design, Trevis Kurz began working on a project to solve problems people have in their homes for the 2010 International Housewares Show in Chicago. While researching his project, Trevis decided to focus on the baby-boomer generation and asked several people he knew what problems they deal with in their homes. His uncle mentioned an issue with a particular home device that immediately struck Trevis as something many people undoubtedly deal with — that’s when the idea hit him to create a solution. After MANY iterations, Trevis submitted his design to the competition and won first place.

Immediately following Trevis’ win, he was introduced to representatives from the product development company, Trident Design, LLC, who encouraged him to pursue his idea further and offered their services. Trevis soon began working with the Trident team on a plan to commercialize his invention and take it to the next level. Trident worked to further develop the mechanism for the product and also applied for a utility patent. Unfortunately, when presenting the product to potential licensing partners, many were hesitant due the unknowns left in the engineering phases.

Wanting to move forward with development, the team at Trident learned of Edison Nation’s Innovation Fund and they, along with Trevis, agreed to submit the idea. Their hope is to get the product further developed to a point where it will be easier to gain manufacturer buy-in, as well as leverage their clout with the larger companies.

As this idea moves on to the next phase and undergoes further research, our team will determine if we can take this product on and help them do just that!

As our team continues to review our Round I Innovation Fund submissions, we are excited to announce today another submission that will be moving to the next stage.

Congratulations to John Gudenkauf! His idea will progress to our Concept Research Phase!

As a reminder, during this stage, our team will perform in-depth research around John’s invention and answer several questions that will determine if his product meets the criteria for development. There are several layers to this process, however, some of the broader areas of this research include: problem vs. market need, details around the industry/market size, the long-term potential of the product, the status of the intellectual property, commercialization strategy, and the financial investment required.

More about John and his journey to invention:

For as long as John Gudekauf can remember, he’s always been intrigued by solving problems  and developing ideas for improving things. The son of a “restless entrepreneur,” John began getting his feet wet in his father’s businesses as early as 12 years old. As an adult, John launched a career in massage therapy, but also pursued the development of a residential remodeling business on the side.

It was during a project for this business, in which John had plans to build several micro-homes (200 sq. ft. homes), that the idea hit him for a very creative solution to save space in the home without sacrificing one of the biggest household necessities. John built a prototype for his idea, set out to patent it in 2007 and began working to build a business around it.  Unfortunately, over the years and throughout the process, John faced several financial setbacks.  In May 2011, after one final setback and more anxious than ever to move his idea forward, John learned of Edison Nation’s Innovation fund and submitted his idea.

We’re excited to move John’s invention into this important next phase and determine the future of bringing it to market!

Our review team has been quite busy over the last several months reviewing the ideas submitted to the first round of our $25 Million Innovation Fund. As we continue to review submissions, we’re excited to share with you that one of the ideas we have selected to move forward, thus far, belongs to Edison Nation member, Clifford Nowack!

Please join us in congratulating Clifford as his ideas moves into our Concept Research Phase!

During this multi-step and often lengthy process, our team will perform in-depth research around Clifford’s invention and answer several questions that will ultimately determine if his product meets the criteria for development. While this research has several layers, some of the broader areas we analyze during this phase include: problem vs. market need, details around the industry/market size, the long-term potential of the product, the status of the intellectual property, commercialization strategy, and the financial investment required.

More about Clifford and his journey to invention:

A Southern California resident his entire life, Clifford Nowack built his career in computer programming, though always held a side-hobby in woodworking. He even began a side business selling some of his wooden creations in the California mountain resort community located in the San Bernardino National Forest, where he and his wife resided. Clifford’s life completely changed, however, in 2003, when massive firestorms swept across the area. The family was forced to evacuate in the middle of the night, and by morning learned that they had lost everything they had ever owned, including their life savings.

Starting over at 45 in a new home and on a tight budget didn’t leave much room for Clifford to reinvest in his woodworking hobby, or to hire help for home improvement, but the family did what work they could on their own. As it happens, it was during a “do-it-yourself” drywall project one day, when an attempt to solve a problem produced the spark of innovation that would lead to Clifford’s invention idea.

For the first several years, Clifford and his wife attempted to develop the invention on their own, even turning down offers from interested development firms. They felt they wanted to do it on their own and hoped to find family and friends to invest — but with the economic downturn, this proved extremely difficult. Finally, after feeling that they’d exhausted all resources, Clifford and his wife decided it was time to partner with someone with the skills and resources they felt they lacked and began researching development companies.

After careful evaluation, they decided to place their confidence in Edison Nation, submitting Clifford’s invention to the Innovation Fund in May 2011.

Now that Clifford’s idea is moving into the Concept Research Phase, our team looks forward to exploring this invention further and potentially bringing it to market!

Congratulations again to Clifford on his invention reaching this very important step!