There is a new opportunity for North Carolina entrepreneurs and it comes in the form of a challenge. Bull City Forward, a support organization for social ventures, and Blue Cross Blue Shield have teamed up to create the Blue Cross Blue Shield Health Innovation Challenge-a competition for North Carolina entrepreneurs who have an idea for an obesity-fighting product or service.
“We wanted to identify a special cluster of entrepreneurs within health care and help their growth specifically,” Roshen Sethna , the division resource manager at Bull City Forward, said. “Blue Cross Blue Shield was interested because they have a big interest in health care and North Carolina. They wanted to help not only identify upcoming heath care innovations, but also focus on improving the health of North Carolinians, specifically issues surrounding obesity.”
The competition will feature three rounds of judging. The first round is a series of questions the entrepreneurs will have to answer online. The second and third rounds are public pitch competitions. In the second round, the top 30 entrepreneurs selected from the online submissions will pitch to a diverse panel of judges consisting of both health care experts and venture capitalists. They will all get feedback, but only ten will enter the accelerator portion of the challenge.
This final phase of the challenge will last a couple of months, and contestants will receive support and resources while growing their ventures. This gives them time to hone and improve their business model. The final pitch happens in September and will be in front of a celebrity judge panel.
“The top winners are eligible for up to 20 thousand dollars private, but Blue Cross Blue Shield has the right to determine how much to give, so it’s still up in the air depending on how it goes and the entrepreneurs needs,” Sethna said.
Regardless of cash prizes, the publicity, exposure and network the budding companies will receive is tremendous. “A lot of people are working independently in isolation,” Sethna said. “They’re not collaborating with other organizations or universities or the cities. This challenge opens the opportunity for entrepreneurs to come out and step onto a larger stage. They’re able to access larger donors in the nation and collaborate with other people and really get connected and gather a lot more momentum and be with a network of people who are working on similar things.” Ryan Clodfelter , a senior in agricultural business management and an ambassador for N.C. State’s Entrepreneurship Initiative, sees the BCBS Health Innovation Challenge as a good indication of innovation inspiration.
“Seeing more challenges like this emerge means an increasing number of people are encouraging innovation, which is very exciting,” Clodfelter said. “This is a great opportunity for entrepreneurs interested in the health field. The networks that open, experience gained, and the notability will advance a start-up idea or company quicker than they could have done on their own.”
What emerges from the BCBS Health Innovation Challenge is still uncertain, but hopes are high.
“We’re really looking to grow and create an impact across the state,” Sethna said.
