innovation and originality grant

The WOMBeat! mascot.

The first finalist Q&A presentation is for WOMBeat!, an online source of recommendations for local businesses from people you know and trust.
Information from their grant application is available here. Read below for more, and if you have questions for our finalists don't hesitate to ask them in the comments section.

Idea Cafe: How did you come up with the idea for your business, and what were your influences and sources of motivation?

Linda Olson: To be completely honest, WOMbeat! was sparked by a dream. Literally, I was woken from a deep sleep and began writing down what I could remember. Some people dream of trips or romances, but I dream about new business ventures, and this one was much different from the rest.

We sent a short list of questions to the grant finalists, and answers are already being sent back in. In an effort to make the grant campaign a more interesting and visible contest, and to make sure Idea Cafe regulars make an informed decision when voting for the grant winner opens next week, finalists will answer several questions about themselves and their business, in addition to the information they've provided here.

The team here is currently assembling the voting page, and we are preparing for a tight publication schedule with a new batch of presentations published every workday. With regard to the voting page, yes, we are several days bit behind schedule, but, well, please have a little more patience.

If you are a finalist and you did not receive your list of question, please contact us at [email protected] .

It was not easy to choose from the exceptional line-up of semi-finalists for the Innovation and Originality grant, but the deed is now done. We are honored to present you the people and companies who will compete for winning the grant. Read below for short descriptions of their businesses and ideas.

Here they are, the semi-finalists for the Innovation and Originality Grant. Everyone on that list impressed us with their ingenuity, business acumen, and willingness to help others. If you are on the list -- congratulations! If not -- stay tuned to see which of the semi-finalists will continue to the next stage of the grant campaign.

As we were going through the long list of grant applications, it struck me how diverse the business ideas in that list were. While we will no doubt be getting more interesting details about our finalists and their companies, here is a fist look at the composition of the line-up of applicants.

The graph is based on about 75% of the data and is an approximation, but it does provide valid insight about the types and relative number of companies and individuals that applied. Click on the thumbnail below for the full image.

As you are probably aware, we just closed the application phase for our sixth cash grant for small businesses. The Idea Cafe team will now start the winner selection process, and the new blog will be a helpful tool in that demanding task.