Sanofi’s Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge Launched

Sanofi US has launched its Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge and is accepting entries. The Innovation Challenge is aligned with the United States government’s initiative to use an open dialogue to drive action toward a three-part aim: innovation in the quality, delivery and cost of diabetes care. The kickoff earlier this year crowd-sourced answers to the question, “What matters most to you?” as it relates to diabetes, and prizes include more than $200,000 in awards, industry-leading mentorship and real-world community response. Innovators are encouraged to submit concepts to www.DataDesignDiabetes.com through March 23, 2012. 

2012 Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge parameters include:

Improve the outcomes and/or experience of caregivers, family/friends, healthcare providers and/or people living with diabetes in the US.

Advance the quality, effectiveness and delivery of diabetes care in the US.

Enable people within the diabetes ecosystem to feel in control.

Reduce the cost of care without compromising the quality and delivery of care.

Create a concept that scales and can be accelerated and distributed with ease.

Reflect human-centered design.

Demonstrate the ability to develop the concept into an illustrative prototype in one month.

Industry leaders will mentor five semi-finalists, selected by a panel of judges, and all intellectual property and equity will remain the property of its creators. Last year’s winner, Ginger.io, uses an app to alert caregivers to concerning behavioral changes. Following the Innovation Challenge, Ginger.io raised $1.7MM in seed funding and expanded its company, which now includes 7 full-time employees. “The first Innovation Challenge allowed us to expand our ideas to help people with diabetes in a new way,” said Ginger.io co-founders, Karan Singh and Anmol Madan. “We encourage anyone with an innovative idea who wants to make a difference to submit an entry.”

The 2012 Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge prizes include:

Access to entrepreneurial resources, through a partnership with Startup America.

A Design & Prototyping Bootcamp to orient the semi-finalists to human-centered design and user experience, develop the understanding of diabetes and teach rapid prototyping methodologies.

Total monetary awards of more than $200,000 by Sanofi US, along with invaluable mentorship and ongoing support.