Putting the ‘New’ in ‘New Manufacturing’ at International Day
We're welcoming the world to International Day 2015 - international entrepreneurs, investors, media, trade commissioners, and political decision makers will come together on September 17th to discuss Scaling Innovations and facilitate meaningful business development.The event is a two-way street for international companies coming to New York City and for NYC-based companies expanding internationally, and provides a platform to discuss NYC and global challenges and opportunities of scaling at speed, showcase best-practices, and connect with decision makers.We're happy to be partnering with Tomorrow Lab for the New Manufacturing roundtable track:
Tomorrow Lab is a product design and engineering consultancy with a unique focus on prototyping new hardware technology, and turning those prototypes into market-ready products. They’ll be hosting our new manufacturing and entrepreneurialism track, bringing in industry experts and showcasing some of their successful startups on best practices for starting up in New York City. The new manufacturing track during International Day will consider the following questions, among others:Funding// How have crowdfunding, business accelerators and VC’s growing appetite for hardware changed how entrepreneurs are starting and growing their ventures?Some notable exits in the hardware development world have proven to Venture Capital that there is great opportunity in hardware, though it is well acknowledged that it may not come as easily. The rise of the ‘Hardware Accelerator’ has helped to bridge VC’s to very new hardware ventures, while providing a structure to mitigate many of the risks of a hardware development program. Great programs such as the RGA & TechStars Connected Devices Accelerator, and the S.O.S. Ventures backed Food-X Accelerator are helping to create viable young companies around some great new technologies. More importantly than venture capital however, we have seen the exponential growth of crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter and Indiegogo. These online funding platforms have allowed entrepreneurs with great ideas to connect to their customers directly. This trend more than anything has raised the profile of new product development and new entrepreneurialism. With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently relaxing the laws around non-accredited investors participating in equity crowdfunding we can expect to see a host of new avenues created for those outside the rarified world of Venture Capital to get invested in new technologies at their earliest stages of development.Product Development// How have new tools have reduced the cost of new product development, and are software product development tactics effective and practical for developing hardware? Who’s getting it right?New tools for digital and physical hardware product development have significantly reduced the cost and technical barriers
surrounding hardware product development. The Arduino and other low cost development platforms have enabled small teams of designers to explore new ways to integrate technology in our lives and quickly scale those discoveries to production level products. In the physical realm, the Makerbot, and generally affordable 3D printing and other additive manufacturing technologies has greatly reduced the cost of prototyping and developing new designs. As these technologies have matured, the quality of the production has increased and costs come down to the point that these techniques are also now being leveraged as direct to market production processes for custom design ‘one off’ products.‘Mass’ Production// How have the above factors changed production?Novel manufacturing methods in the US and fierce competition in Asia have significantly reduced the cost, timelines, and initial inventory investments for new product launches. This has enabled a more boutique approach to product development allowing a far higher sell-through of fewer products to people who want them more. This efficiency is allowing for very small slices of a market to be targeted directly. A good example of this is the Hammerhead One bicycle navigation system which has presold and entered the market with fewer than 5000 pieces initial production run.
Sign up to attend International Day here. We invite you to be part of a vibrant working atmosphere and connect with potential local and international partners, investors and further multipliers to take your business to the next level – domestically or abroad.Calling all startups! If you would like to attend, exhibit, and have a chance to pitch, please enter our competition on F6S.International Day is part of International Week, a global conference in the heart of the world’s most diverse startup scene, New York. For information on attending the rest of the week, please email us at tep@nyintl.net.