MTI has chosen a nationally recognized assessment tool to help our clients identify their most urgent needs to maximize their chances of successfully commercializing their innovation or launching their program. This tool is called the Venture Investment Readiness & Awareness Levels or VIRAL® assessment.
What is VIRAL®?
VIRAL, Venture Investment Readiness Assessment Levels, is a framework originally developed by Village Capital, a nationally recognized leader in investment and entrepreneurial development.
It is a self-assessment tool for measuring the maturity of an organization or business across eight different areas including the development of:
- Team
- Problem and Vision
- Value Proposition
- Product
- Market
- Business Model
- Scale
- Exit
While the VIRAL® levels were developed with a focus on venture-investment readiness for a startup, MTI has chosen this tool because it can be used to assess nearly any type of product, service, process or organization and at every stage of development.
How does MTI use VIRAL®?
MTI, in partnership with Village Capital, has adopted and adapted this framework to help guide our investment decisions. While the tool is focused on venture-investment readiness, we believe it is applicable to nearly every type of organization, so anyone applying to MTI for funding should start with this assessment.
We invite you to take a look at the VIRAL framework and perform a self-assessment in advance of your conversation with MTI staff. The VIRAL assessment is now available to Maine enterprises in an online version called Abaca. MTI invites potential applicants to visit the site, complete a self-assessment and set up a profile to access information about resources available locally and nationally tailored to your VIRAL level and type of enterprise.
Knowing and understanding your VIRAL® level can help us ‘speak the same language’ and get to a shared understanding of what an MTI applicant needs to do to get to their next level of growth. Our goal is to be able to advise each applicant on what types of work are likely to be approved and how much MTI funding you are likely to qualify for. These recommendations directly correspond to your VIRAL level, with a goal of “leveling up”.