Deadline: 21st July 2023 | MSA Innovation Challenge 2023 ($2 000 000 total Prizes). | Market Shaping Accelerator
The first-ever MSA Innovation Challenge 2023 will give away up to $2,000,000 in total prizes for concepts that pinpoint areas in which a pull mechanism would encourage innovation in biosecurity, pandemic preparedness, and climate change, as well as for teams to develop that incentive mechanism from concept to contract signing.
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Concerning the Challenge
The ability to innovate not only helps the economy thrive, but it may also help the environment and save lives. Yet significant inventions are sometimes under-incentivized, particularly in fields of global public benefits.
The Market Shaping Accelerator’s (MSA) goal is to promote innovation in order to address the most pressing global issues of the day. How do we intend to achieve that? By locating instances of market failures when the social value outweighs the commercial incentives—for example, vaccines for potential pandemics, neglected diseases, environmentally friendly building materials, sustainable aviation fuel, etc. By adopting “pull” methods that generate demand for these solutions (which may not even yet exist! ), we can tackle these issues and boost the private sector’s incentives to innovate.
For our first-ever MSA Innovation Challenge in 2023, we’ll give away up to $2,000,000 in total prizes for concepts that show how a pull mechanism could encourage innovation in biosecurity, pandemic preparedness, and climate change, and for teams to design that incentive mechanism from concept to contract signing.
In order to compete for their share of a prize pool of up to $2 million over several phases, participating teams will have access to some of the top market shaping experts in the world as well as technical help from subject matter experts. The MSA will assist winning concepts in raising the millions or billions of dollars necessary to support their pull mechanism.
We’re looking for innovators, problem-solvers, and change agents to help us build markets that could have a significant impact. Help us unlock billions in social value using millions!
“Pull” mechanisms: what are they?
Pull mechanisms are methods for policymaking that encourage businesses in the private sector to invest in R&D and market solutions. In contrast to “push” funding, which covers inputs like research funds, “pull” funding covers outputs and results like awards and milestone agreements. By generating demand for a particular good or service, these processes “pull” innovation by encouraging the private sector to invest in and work on producing that good or technical remedy.
An Advance Market Commitment (AMC), a sort of contract where a buyer, such as a government or charitable organization, commits to purchasing (or subsidizing) a good or service at a specific price and quantity whenever it becomes accessible, is an illustration of a pull mechanism. This commitment generates demand for the good or service, giving inventors the financial incentive to invest in R&D and create remedies to satisfy that need.
In order to create a pneumococcal vaccine for the strain of the virus that affects children in low- and middle-income countries, an AMC was employed in the early 2000s. Another recent illustration is Frontier, an AMC to hasten carbon removal that is led by Stripe.
Pull mechanisms are generally helpful when we need an invention but are unsure of who or how to generate it.
Challenge Information
The MSA will give away up to $2,000,000 in prizes in its first Innovation Challenge for concepts and developments of market-shaping initiatives. In two areas—biosecurity with an emphasis on pandemic preparedness and climate change—innovation is under-incentivized, and the challenge seeks to crowdsource solutions. The MSA will then provide assistance to teams creating pull mechanisms to address these issues.
In order to begin developing our portfolio of potential issues to address through market shaping mechanisms, we have been collaborating with organizations and specialists in these fields. But we need your assistance to combat the greatest dangers to civilization! Your suggestions on where and how to apply tools for market shaping to address these significant issues are welcome.
We are hosting an open call for proposals for the challenge’s first phase, and we will give away up to $500,000 overall, with $4,000 going to the best ideas. The application form requests that applicants identify a market failure where societal value outweighs private incentives and where we are aware of the measurable outcome we wish to promote (such as the creation of a vaccine, the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, etc.). Submissions are accepted from people who are at least 18 years old and from international organizations whose participation and receipt of funds do not conflict with the law.
In order to move forward to Phase II, a subset of the first phase’s ideas will be chosen, and they will be put into the Accelerator to work on building the pull mechanism and contract. Teams will receive financial assistance, technical guidance from subject matter experts, and insight from the top market shaping scholars in the world to help polish the concept. Teams will create more intricate pull mechanism designs over the course of several months. The total value of the awards given out by the end of the Accelerator period might reach $1.5 million.
It should be noted that submitting and winning the $4,000 prize from your initial entry in Phase I does not obligate you to take part in Phase II or grant you the right to do so.
Why Take Part?
By promoting innovation in biosecurity and climate change, we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to impact the planet. You can: By taking part in the Innovation Challenge, you can:
- Develop solutions to important global concerns. By solving market inefficiencies in biosecurity or climate change and fostering innovation in these fields, your concept might have a real-world impact.
- Obtain visibility and recognition: The Market Shaping Accelerator’s website and other communication channels will highlight and promote winning submissions, giving you a platform to present your idea.
- Having access to resources and assistance A network of specialists and collaborators in the disciplines of biosecurity, climate change, and innovation is available to the Market Shaping Accelerator. If you work with these stakeholders, you could be able to acquire resources and further develop and implement your concept.
- Earn rewards and assist in using millions to release billions in social value!
Challenge Framework
There are two phases to the MSA Innovation Challenge 2023.
Phase I: Idea submissions are open
An existing market failure (connected to biosecurity, pandemics, or climate change) where the potential societal value of building a market considerably outweighs the private gains is identified by applicants in their contributions.
Submissions for Phase I are due by 12:00 CT on July 21, 2023 and are accepted on a rolling basis.
Referees that work both internally and externally will evaluate and score the submissions. Submissions that satisfy a minimal standard will be given $4,000 each. In Phase I, prizes of up to $500k will be given out.
A select number of the best concepts from Phase I will move on to Phase II, where they will get more assistance from the Market Shaping Accelerator team to create comprehensive proposals.
Accelerating pull designs in Phase II
The MSA team’s support and direction, as well as that of domain experts, will help ideas that are chosen for entrance into Phase II become fully developed contracts.
A total of up to $1.5 million in rewards will be given out by Phase II’s conclusion.
The goal of the tournament may not always be to select just one winner. If multiple proposals show great promise, they may each win a portion of the overall prize and receive assistance from the MSA in finding sponsors and raising the millions or billions of dollars necessary to realize their pull mechanism.
Prize sacks
The $2,000,000 in prizes will be distributed as follows:
- High-caliber entries will be given up to $500,000 in Phase I prizes ($4,000 each submission), which will be determined by the referees’ evaluations.
- At the commencement of Phase II, teams will each get up to $400,000 to cover beginning expenses.
- By the conclusion of Phase II, the top concepts will receive awards of up to $1,100,000.
