{"id":28766,"date":"2017-08-30T10:51:38","date_gmt":"2017-08-30T14:51:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/?post_type=news-item&p=28766"},"modified":"2023-11-21T12:34:58","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T17:34:58","slug":"fifteen-innovators-get-funding-saving-lives-birth","status":"publish","type":"news-item","link":"https:\/\/www.healthynewbornnetwork.org\/news-item\/fifteen-innovators-get-funding-saving-lives-birth\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifteen Innovators Get Funding from Saving Lives at Birth"},"content":{"rendered":"

International Partnership Invests $7.3 Million to Accelerate Innovations that Prevent Maternal, Newborn Deaths and Stillbirth in the Hardest-to-Reach Regions of the World<\/em><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON, DC\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 After a rigorous review process and competition, 15 of the world\u2019s most promising ideas to save lives at birth in developing countries have edged out over 550 other applicants, securing millions in new funding to develop and refine their innovations.<\/p>\n

From an on-site chlorine generator to prevent infection to a breakthrough fingerprint scanning technology for newborn prints,\u00a0Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development\u00a0<\/em>will invest more than $7.3 million in groundbreaking solutions to protect and support mothers and newborns throughout pregnancy, but with a particular emphasis on the 48 hour window around the time of delivery \u2013 when they are most vulnerable. The announcement was made on July 27th<\/sup>, at the seventh annual DevelopmentX<\/sup>Change in Washington, DC, the program\u2019s signature event bringing together a community of global entrepreneurs to develop transformational solutions for maternal and newborn survival, and prevention of stillbirth, with the goal of making them accessible to the poorest, most remote communities in the world.<\/p>\n

The 15 award nominees were selected from more than 550 submissions, with roughly half of the applications coming from low-and middle-income countries. Half of the award nominees themselves are previous SL@B grantees who are continuing to thrive and move through the program pipeline. All of the award nominees are now part of a growing community of over 100 innovators supported by the\u00a0Saving Lives at Birth\u00a0<\/em>partnership.<\/p>\n

The two-day DevelopmentX<\/sup>Change also included a pitch competition featuring 11 entrepreneurs who had received previous support from\u00a0Saving Lives at\u00a0<\/em>Birth<\/em>, and are now showing great promise for potential partnership and further investment. This year, the SL@B partnership offered two prizes for the winners of the Pitch Competition \u2013 six months of communication support from global firm McCann Global Health, as well as a sponsored trip to the annual Acting on the Call event, to be held in Ethiopia this year.<\/p>\n

Mbarara University, who is developing the Augmented Infant Resuscitator (AIR), won the pitch competition. PremieBreathe, out of Yale University, was named the runner-up for their project testing and implementation of low-cost breathing aid for infants in Tigray, Ethiopia. \u00a0This year, there was record-breaking participation in the honorary\u00a0People\u2019s Choice\u00a0<\/em>Award, with over 10,000 votes cast. Avigo Health, LLC received the most votes for their Warranty on Womanhood project. Boston Children\u2019s Hospital won the\u00a0Peer Choice Award<\/em>\u00a0for their Infant Warmer project, developing an inexpensive, re-usable, non-electric, innovation for neonatal care.<\/p>\n

Award nominees\u00a0for\u00a0Saving Lives at Birth\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Seventh Call for innovations include:<\/p>\n

Four (4) Seed Award Nominees:<\/strong><\/p>\n