The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a $20 million health innovation challenge encouraging innovators to develop technology and strategies for suicide prevention among veterans.
The challenge, dubbed Mission Daybreak, seeks innovators that will catalyze new collaborative insights and innovations in some of the following areas: digital footprint data, technological innovations, firearm suicide prevention and innovations that address social determinents of health, according to the VA's website.
Industry members, researchers, clinicians and other health innovators can send in ideas by July 8. From there, 30 finalists will receive $250,000 to move onto the second phase, which involves an eight-week virtual accelerator to help develop their technologies.
Judges, stakeholders and investors will then select two first-place winners who will receive $3 million each, three second-place winners who will receive $1 million each and five third-place winners who will receive $500,000 each.
The challenge is part of the VA's push to embrace health innovation.