The American Heart Association announced today (August 11th) the launch of its first Chicago Open Innovation Challenge, a crowdsourced, crowdfunded and judged competition to uncover new innovative tools to prevent or manage heart disease and stroke. The top three finalists will receive grants from the American Heart Association totaling $25,000 and a chance to present at the Heart Innovation Forum in Chicago. Each award winner will be featured on healthcare crowdfunding platform MedStartr.
Early-stage healthcare technology and life sciences companies with novel ideas that seek to help patients, providers or medical facilities meet the American Heart Association’s 2020 Impact Goal—to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing death from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent by the year 2020—are encouraged to apply.
Entries from innovative entrepreneurs, scientists, physicians, nurses, patients, engineers, administrators and passionate people from all fields will be accepted. Teams must have a presence in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri or Wisconsin and be available to come to Chicago for the American Heart Association’s Heart Innovation Forum on November 14, 2014. The full-day event brings together researchers, physicians, business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors to discuss new ways to accelerate science and better understand how to treat heart disease and stroke.
The health organization noted, “Our Open Innovation Challenge invites you to create a solution and submit your early stage product that helps people prevent and/or manage cardiovascular disease or stroke. We know the next big idea is out there in the crowd and our challenge gives innovators the chance to win money and share their invention with the world.”
The American Heart Association mission is to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. Heart disease is the No. 1 cause of death in America, and stroke is No. 4. We need your help to save lives and meet our 2020 Impact Goal: By 2020, to improve the cardiovascular health of all Americans by 20 percent while reducing deaths from cardiovascular diseases and stroke by 20 percent.