Break the Barrier
Inventacare
Prize breakdown
1st Place Cash Prize
$5,0002nd Place Cash Prize
$3,0003rd Place Cash Prize
$1,000
Timeline
- Submissions openSep 1, 2026
- 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