Get Found and Funded Faster

Companies funded on MedStartr have raised over $500M and can help change the face of medicine

What is a Crowd Challenge?

Consider the world's largest focus group, voting for their favorite new ideas. And teh audience is people who care about improving how healthcare works from patients to nurses to doctors, to leaders and staff who work in the industry in all areas. It first takes place online, on MedSTartr and sometimes other sites we build for partners. After a few weeks of that, we look at all the data and five to twenty-five teams are selected to compete in front of large live and vast online audience with partners and expert judges. Challenge Sponsors and judges, in addition to the MedStartr family of funds, represent large organizations looking for innovations like yours. Very often they offer grants, pilots and partnerships. And that's the thing, some fund raising is good, but a real customer is GREAT and exactly what early stage companies need to get going faster and more sustainably.

What makes a Crowd Challenge Different?

The difference between a Crowd Challenge and a typical Challenge or Pitch Contest is that here teams compete to see whose company can gather the most support from an enormous crowd of Patients, Physicians, Nurses, Hospital Leaders, Partners, and Investors in an online crowdfunding showcase. Another difference is that all the pilot, partnership, mentorship, and investment dollars go to the teams - so not only do the top teams win, often the top 50 teams win thousands of pilots, partnerships, adoptions, customers, investors, mentors, and more. We have been running these since 2012 with winners like Medable, UniteUs, CareSet, Misfit Wearables, Mymee and more, companies that have changed healthcare for the better. With sponsors like HHS, Takeda, AMA, AHA, AMIA, cities and the MedStartr Funds and Accelerator, entering and doing well in a MedStartr Crowd Challenge can change the whole trajectory of not just your company, but our industry.

The Application Process

Simply complete the online application. Click here to get started! A side benefit is that the way we ask questions and control your responses packages your company in a way that is very clear, directed at each stakeholder, and will answer all the questions that people generally have. It is a long application, we know, and about 2/3 people who start them don't finish them. We will make it easier in 2025, but truthfully, we don't want people not willing to do the work. Our friend Steve Krein over at Startup Health calls this "Batteries Included" and that's a good metaphor. If you are not willing to do the work, then crowd challenges aren't for you.

Phase I: Let the Crowd Validation and Feedback Begin!

Once live, your project will go into the Crowd Challenge's Online Showcase, where it can be reviewed by healthcare innovation enthusiasts made up of patients, physicians, nurses, therapists, hospital staff and leaders, partners, investors, and more. If your idea excites them, they will Like, Share, Follow, Try, Pilot, Adopt, Mentor, Partner, and sign up to Invest in your idea. We call this “Crowd Validation,” and it has been shown to be an excellent catalyst for healthcare innovation. In one month alone during a Crowd Challenge we ran for the AMA 116 companies started over 3,100 partner, pilot, investor, and advisor discussions. The winner of that Challenge went on to close 12 new hospital contracts (up from 2) and 1.2 M in Series A funding in 100 days. The MedStartr Funds I and II also invested in Twiage and they were bought by the leader in their industry just last year.

How is the Contest Judged?

The projects that get the most crowd validation from site visitors will be judged by a panel of healthcare leaders and experts to select the top projects. The top teams will then be invited on stage at a large event or conference to pitch their ideas in front of a live audience filled with hundreds to thousands of investors, partners, healthcare leaders, and a panel of judges, who will make the final decision.