$100,000 Up For Grabs In Nova Scotia Health Innovation Pitch Competition
HALIFAX — A chance at a juicy government contract, as well as $100,000 will be up for grabs October 2, in the latest round of the Nova Scotia Health Challenge.
The competition is a collaboration between the Nova Scotia Health Authority and several local partners, designed to foster collaboration and innovation in the health and medical technology industries.
When he announced the challenge in February, Dr. Brendan Carr, the president and CEO of the Nova Scotia Health Authority, said the province was at the point where old solutions are no longer enough to fix the healthcare system in the province.
“We’ve reached a point where simply improving on the way we do things is simply not efficient,” he said. “We actually need to generate new solutions to these old problems, and we can only do that by bringing new thinking together.”
The Health Challenge is designed to do just that.
It’s a series of events that invite startups to pitch their emerging medical technologies to a panel of judges.
Participants will get 15 minutes to convince the panel their technology can help drive innovation in Nova Scotia health care. There will be five events, each focused on a different provincial health care priority.
Winners of each of the events will receive $100,000 and the opportunity to have their technology adopted for use by the NSHA.
In June, Halifax-based Adaptiiv Medical Technologies won the first pitch competition, which was focused on cancer-related innovations.
This October’s challenge will be hosted by Volta, and focus on mental health and wellbeing.
Volta CEO Martha Casey says the challenge is a fantastic showcase of the work happening in the medical technology space in Nova Scotia.
“There’s so much more happening in the medtech and healthtech sectors in Nova Scotia than meets the eye, so this is a very good way to amplify that,” Casey says.
She says the challenge is obviously great for whoever wins but that it has benefits beyond a fat check for a single company. The platform also gives critical exposure and experience to the region’s burgeoning startups.
“Of course there’s the prize, and there’s the potential for adoption with Nova Scotia Health, but each of the companies that pitches, and each of the companies that apply, get the profile and get consideration, so they’re on the radar now, which in many cases they hadn’t been before,” Casey says.
October’s pitch competition will be held virtually, like the last Health Challenge event in June. Casey says the virtual format has even come with some unexpected benefits.
More than 200 people tuned into the last Health Challenge pitch competition, which is likely more than would have shown up for an in-person event. In October, she expects viewership to be even higher.
“Historically, or at least pre-March, anybody thought that doing something virtually were getting shortchanged, that they were getting the light version of it. But now everybody is in the same boat, so we’re able to reach more audiences. You’re getting people who otherwise wouldn’t have tuned in are participating,” Casey says.
That extra interaction is also bolstered by the fact that the virtual venue gives the competition a more national profile. Because they’re not dealing with flights and travel, the judges from across the country can sit on the panel.
Six companies will be selected to pitch on the night of the competition, but the application process is open.
Applications will be accepted until September 15, at midnight, and Casey encourages anyone in the medical technology or health technology spaces to apply.
More information is available on the Health Challenge website.