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Break the Barrier

Remote

Inventacare

Active
Devpost

Deadline

Nov 2, 2026

109 days left

Prizes

$9K in prizes

1 registered

View on Devpost

Prize breakdown

  • 1st Place Cash Prize

    $5,000
  • 2nd Place Cash Prize

    $3,000
  • 3rd Place Cash Prize

    $1,000

Timeline

  1. Submissions openSep 1, 2026
  2. Submission deadlineNov 2, 2026

About

About the challenge

Break the Barrier is a national AI healthcare innovation competition open to students, clinicians, engineers, and self-taught builders. The prompt: identify a barrier in healthcare, and use AI to build a solution.

Get started

Solutions can take any form: a product, a clinical tool, a workflow redesign, a policy framework, an AI agent, a hardware-integrated device, or anything else that fits the problem. Solo or team.

Timeline:

Sept 1, 2026 — Competition opens, submission link sent to registered participants

Nov 1, 2026 — Submission deadline, 11:59 PM ET

Dec 1, 2026 — Finalists and cash prize winners announced

Q1 2027 — Spark Program begins

Requirements

What to Build

Solutions can take any form: a product, a clinical tool, a workflow redesign, a policy framework, an AI agent, a hardware-integrated device, or anything else that fits the problem. 

What to Submit

One submission, three components, reviewed blind:

 

1. One-Page Barrier

A one-page written statement identifying a specific healthcare barrier. This is the foundation of your solution, so make it specific and well-reasoned, drawing on personal experience, clinical exposure, research, or direct conversations with people affected.

 

2. Build with AI

Design a solution to your chosen barrier using AI. Format is unrestricted: a functional digital product, a clinical decision tool, an AI agent, a workflow change, a hardware-integrated device, a screening tool, a policy framework, or any form that best addresses the problem.

 

3. Video Pitch

A 3 to 5 minute video presenting the barrier and the proposed solution. Both the written statement and video are reviewed together. We're looking for a genuine healthcare solution, not a professional video production.

Submissions open
Sep 1, 2026
Deadline
Nov 2, 2026
First seen
Jul 9, 2026
Last seen
Jul 9, 2026