By Johnson & Johnson | JLABS

Apply now for the chance to be awarded up to $350,000 USD. Deadline is August 18th.

Have an idea or innovative solution for “the Baby Box of the future?” Janssen and Johnson & Johnson Innovation will award up to $350K to the most innovative technologies.

Janssen Research & Development (Janssen) is working toward a vision of a world without disease enabled, in part, by disease interception, an approach that aims to address the root causes of disease, intervening earlier than today’s clinically accepted point of diagnosis and seeking solutions that stop, reverse or inhibit progression to disease. Science indicates that some of these root causes may be initiated during the perinatal period, a period prior to and after a child’s birth. To that end, Janssen and Johnson & Johnson Innovation, in collaboration with Finnish Innovation Fund Sitra, Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, are launching the Next-Gen Baby Box QuickFire Challenge to spur innovation that promotes child health, detects childhood disease earlier and/or facilitates healthy parenting.

We are looking for game-changing solutions that address one or more of these three areas:

  1. Promoting Child Health
    The first area seeks ways to promote child health through breastfeeding, specifically ease a better start and extend for a longer time, and through sleep, specifically going to sleep quicker and sleeping longer.
  2. Detecting Childhood Illness and Disease
    The second area seeks innovations for home-based detection of high blood sugar associated with the onset of type 1 diabetes, and home-based assessment of severity and progression of respiratory disease.
  3. Facilitating Healthy Parenting
    The third area seeks ways to facilitate emotional and physical well-being, coping skills, and bonding with newborns and infants.

Rewards and Benefits

  • Up to $350,000 USD in funding for multiple winners, including travel to Slush 2017
  • Mentoring & Coaching
  • Option to form a contractual collaboration to develop the science/technology with the goal of piloting in Finland within the next 1-2 years and potential to commercialize in 2020.

Whether your idea or prototype is in the early-ideation stage or late-breakthrough innovation stage, you are encouraged to apply.

Deadline to apply is August 18, 2017
Winners will pitch at Slush on November 30, 2017 in Helsinki, Finland

What we are looking for in applications

Solutions will be evaluated by a panel of reviewers and judges on their ability to meet the following criteria:

  • Novelty
  • Potential Impact
  • Feasibility/Practicality
  • Perceived Commercialization Potential
  • Quality of Team and Resources
Original Article