Rochester, Minnesota - The Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation and Mayo Clinic Ventures today announced the second Mayo Clinic Think Big Challenge, a national competition for innovators and entrepreneurs. This year, one business or entrepreneur will earn the opportunity to license Mayo Clinic technology, lead a team and score a $50,000 cash prize.
The 2016 Mayo Clinic Think Big Challenge opens today at http://www.transformconference.mayo.edu. Application deadline is August 15.
In this “entrepreneur in residence” competition, Mayo Clinic Ventures will offer up several Mayo Clinic technologies, and applicants will select one technology and pitch a strategy to take it to market to become the champion of the Mayo Clinic Think Big Challenge.
“There’s a new twist to the Think Big Challenge this year,” says Jeanne Huddleston, M.D., who is medical director for the Mayo Clinic Think Big Challenge. “We will be looking for the go-to-market strategy, savvy and energy that will launch one of Mayo Clinic’s technologies to make it available to patients all over the nation or world.”
The confidential selection process will be led by venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, technical experts, and members of Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation and Mayo Clinic Ventures. Five finalists will compete at the Mayo Clinic Transform conference, Sept. 14-16, in Rochester, Minnesota, before an expert panel of venture capitalists and a live Transform audience. The winner will be the Mayo Clinic Think Big Challenge entrepreneur in residence.
About the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation
The Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation taps the resources, ingenuity and legacy of Mayo Clinic’s more than 150 years of medical leadership. The center offers a space within Mayo Clinic to rapidly iterate new ideas into the clinical practice. The center’s multidisciplinary team uses a human-centered design approach to turn innovative ideas into practical solutions that change how people can determine their own health and experience the delivery of health care.
About Mayo Clinic Ventures
Mayo Clinic Ventures serves Mayo Clinic’s mission by finding partners that can bring Mayo’s inventions to the marketplace, where they can be used to improve medicine everywhere. Mayo Clinic Ventures’ mission is straightforward: Commercialize Mayo Clinic technologies for the benefit of patients worldwide, while generating revenue to support clinical practice, research and education at Mayo Clinic. For more information, visit http://ventures.mayoclinic.org/.
About Transform
Hosted by the Mayo Clinic Center for Innovation, Transform is a catalyst for engaging people to create a sustainable future for health. “Make Change Possible: Thriving in an Ecosystem for Health” is the theme for this year’s conference, which will take place Sept. 14-16 in Rochester. Now in its ninth year, Transform addresses tough questions, connects a broad spectrum of perspectives, and inspires change through action. For conference information and to register for Transform, click here: https://transformconference.mayo.edu/register/.
