Pictured in order from left to right: Clay Young, Founder of SeekingSimple, Brad Mosell, Founder of Dharma Dr., Ashley Crafton, CEO of Galena Innovations, and Brian Jorgenson, Chief Investment Officer at Capital Eleven speaking during the Health Tech Track at Boise Entrepreneur Week 2023, sharing their journeys as entrepreneurs in health tech. Photo provided by Boise Entrepreneur Week, Rob W. Scribner.
This is a ‘reverse pitch’ competition, which means you don’t have to bring your own idea. Participants will choose a problem provided by industry partners and propose a solution in the form of a new venture. Participants refine their solutions into ventures through research, customer discovery, and idea validation.
Cash Awards
College and university students from across Idaho will compete for cash prizes as they generate innovative solutions within the health, med & bio tech industries.
Open to higher education students across the state of Idaho.
If applying as a team, at least one member of your team must be a registered student at a college or university in Idaho.
We encourage participants to work on interdisciplinary teams, and to look beyond their own institution to find the right partners for their team.
If you are applying as an individual, Venture College will help match students to teams when the program begins.
Three Phases of the Competition
1. Sprint
Monday, October 14 –Â Thursday, October 24
During the first phase of Health Tech Challenge, participants:
Learn more about the problem they are solving, work with mentors assigned to their teams, develop an idea for a solution, and build and test their prototype.
While the majority of the sprint is done outside of the classroom, including reviewing on-demand entrepreneur and start-up content, participants can expect the following meetings:
Kick-Off  (1 hour)
Tuesday, October 1 | 2:30 – 3:30 PM (MT) at Boise Entrepreneur Week
Entrepreneurial Mentor & Resource Introduction Night (1.5 hour)
Monday, October 14 | 5:30 – 7 PM (MT) via Zoom
Interview Problem Sponsors (1.5 hours)
Tuesday, October 15 | 5:30 – 7 PM (MT) via Zoom
Pitch Practice (2 hours)
Wednesday, October 23 | 5 – 7 PM (MT) via Zoom
2. Virtual Preliminary Pitch Competition
Thursday, October 24
9 AM to 1 PM (timeframe TBD) via Zoom
Teams will compete for their spot in the final competition and chance to win cash prizes by pitching their solutions to industry experts, community leaders, and experienced entrepreneurs. The top teams will advance to the final pitch competition.
The top teams will pitch to judges made up of industry experts, entrepreneurs, and investors, providing connections to a network that will last well beyond this competition.
Health Tech Challenge is a partnership with Boise Entrepreneur Week (BEW). BEW is Idaho’s largest community-driven, entrepreneur-focused event. Each year, thousands of people come together to learn, support, and celebrate Idaho’s growing entrepreneurial ecosystem.
