Challenge 1
The COVID-19 pandemic has heightened our awareness of the critical role family caregivers play in our society and the ways they impact our healthcare system and the overall economy. We launched this Challenge to find digital health solutions that support caregivers in facing new chal
Unpaid caregivers are all around us. More than 53 million Americans provide unpaid care to an adult or a child with special needs. Three in five caregivers are women, 29% are from Generation X, and 23% are Millennials. Over 60% of caregivers are employed and they provide an average of 23.7 hours of care per week on top of their paid work.
Many more people became caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic as elders were isolated from their support systems and family members felt unsafe in congregate housing and assisted living facilities. Caregivers were also disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, reporting worse mental health outcomes, increased substance use, and elevated suicidal ideation.
This Challenge was designed to find digital health innovations that can help caregivers return to work and face the challenges to caregiving that were exacerbated by the pandemic.
Program Overview
Startups, entrepreneurs, and intrapreneurs with digital health solutions aimed at helping caregivers recover from the pandemic are encouraged to apply. Intrapreneurs are innovators from within existing, mature companies who have ideas for a new, innovative product or service outside the company’s traditional product line.
Up to eight applicants will be selected to participate in a three-month accelerator program run by Lever, Inc. The accelerator will offer a curriculum of lean startup workshops and tailored expert mentoring to help participants develop their solution, business plan, and go-to-market strategy. Participants are required to attend all six startup workshops. Dates for the workshops are posted below. During the accelerator, participants will be assessed on their testing and validation needs for their product and will be matched with members of the MA Digital Health Sandbox Network, a group of cutting-edge research and development organizations supporting digital health companies. Participants will work with their Sandbox partners to scope detailed, six-month testing and validation projects.
The accelerator will culminate in a judged competition in November 2021 where participants will pitch both their product and their Sandbox project. Judges will select one winner to receive $100,000 in tuition to complete their proposed Sandbox project and three runners-up to receive $50,000 in tuition for their Sandbox projects. The funding will go directly to the Sandboxes to cover their fees. This level of tuition can typically cover extensive user experience testing, access to cutting-edge lab facilities and subject matter experts, or a pilot in a healthcare setting.
Download the Request for Applications for more information.
Early Application Opportunity: Applications submitted by July 9th will be reviewed and receive initial feedback by July 23rd. Early applicants may incorporate the feedback and resubmit their application by July 30th. Please note this opportunity is applicable only to applications received by July 9th. Those received after July 9th will be reviewed through the normal application process.
Workshop Dates
- Kickoff meeting: Friday, September 10
- Workshop 1: Friday, September 17
- Workshop 2: Friday, October 1
- Workshop 3: Friday, October 15
- Workshop 4: Friday, October 29
- Workshop 5: Friday, November 5
- Pitch Mentoring: Friday, November 12
- Pitch Event: Thursday, December 9
The kickoff meeting will take one hour. Workshops will take two hours.
Challenge Areas
The following are examples of challenges that we believe can be addressed by digital health solutions. This is not an exhaustive list and any applicants with ideas for supporting caregivers are encouraged to apply.
Eligibility
- Applicants must propose a new solution that is not yet widely commercially available.
- Applicants may be located anywhere in the US. However, Participants must be willing to participate in a pitch event at the end of the accelerator. Winners of the Challenge must be willing to participate in a promotional event at the conclusion of the program. The pitch event will take place in December 2021 and the promotional event is likely to take place in 2023. Both events are currently being planned as in-person events in Massachusetts.
- Participants in the accelerator must agree to track and report on the following metrics for five years after the program ends to comply with federal reporting requirements:
- Number of jobs created at your company
- Number of new customers gained
- Number of new patents, copyrights, or trademarks obtained
- Diversity of your board members and/or executive team