Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge

What is the HIC?
The Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (HIC) is an annual student competition that encourages innovative solutions to major health-related problems facing the world today. Held each winter, the HIC brings together student teams from different schools and disciplines to identify a health or health care problem, design a product, process, or service to address it, and create a business summary that demonstrates market interest and the potential for their idea.

What is Your Idea?
Students can compete with any product, process, or service that highlights a new approach to wellness, care and treatment, safety, or access. This includes medical devices, therapeutics, digital health interventions, healthcare workflow solutions, ideas that address mental or community health, and more. In recent years, new enabling technologies have contributed to rapid growth in health innovation. This is an area where your creativity and passion can thrive!

Want to Learn More?
Find information below about the HIC timeline, eligibility, entry requirements, and resources to help you prepare your application. View the recording from our Virtual Information Session for the 2023 HIC.

The application site opens for submissions on Tuesday, December 1, 2026 and applications are due by 12:00 noon on Monday, January 25, 2027. The competition begins with the initial online Screening Round between February 4 and February 11.

NOTE: TEAM MEMBER PROFILES MUST BE COMPLETED BEFORE THE APPLICATION CAN BE SUBMITTED!

We recommend notifying your team members of this requirement and encouraging them to submit their profile well before the deadline. Applications may be accessed and edited up until the deadline.

The competition begins with an online Screening Round open to judges only between January 27 and February 3. After, 21 teams are selected and invited to compete in the live Final Round held on Thursday, February 25, 2027

View the schedule below for information sessions and workshops designed to help student teams prepare for the 2027 Health Innovation Challenge.

2027 Competition Rounds & Deliverables

Any student in good standing from a Cascadia Corridor (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia) and Alaska college or university who is enrolled in a degree-seeking program can participate in the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (HIC).
Teams must be student-led. Non-students can be members of a team, generally as advisers, but they can’t present at the HIC, nor can they receive prize money.
The most successful teams have members with various skill sets from various departments, including built environments, law, engineering, business, policy, etc. Therefore, cross-disciplinary teams are highly encouraged.

What is needed to enter?
Confidentiality

What is needed to enter?
Prototype Funding (Optional, see PROTOTYPE FUNDING below)

All Entrants (see DATES & DEADLINES above)

• 5/7-page Business Summary
• Student teammates’ contact information to invite team members to complete their profiles for the application (mandatory before submission)

Top Teams selected for the final event

• Final Round Resource Night (mandatory attendance)
• Final Round Pitch Workshop (mandatory attendance)
• 1-page Business Summary
• 60-Second Pitch + Presentation of Demo/Prototype

Confidentiality
Your submission into the competition is distributed to a large group of community professionals who act as judges.

Before submitting proposals into the competition, we strongly encourage any team with concerns regarding intellectual property (patent, copyright potential, etc.) to either contact their university’s intellectual property office for university-developed discoveries or competent legal counsel for non-university related discoveries.

The University of Washington, the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, the Foster School of Business, and the organizers of the competition are not responsible for any proprietary information and/or intellectual property included in a submitted business summary.
Ultimately, protection of sensitive materials is the sole responsibility of the individual or team participating in the competition.

Photo and Video Disclaimer
By attending in-person or online events hosted by the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship, participants grant the Buerk Center permission to the rights of their image, likeness, and recorded voice, without payment or consideration, for non-commercial use. Participants must understand that there is no time limit on the validity of this release, nor are there any geographic limitations on where these materials may be distributed. Students, judges, mentors, and all other related parties to events may request photos for use following the event in question. Requests will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

Attribution/Courtesy must be included with all photo/video use. The Buerk Center retains the right to request photos/videos be removed from third-party websites, distributed materials, and/or similar media. Explore University of Washington licensing and other media-related policies related to the UW Brand.

1. Teams entering must have at least one full-time or part-time student on the team who is enrolled in good standing in a degree seeking program at an accredited college or university in the Cascadia Corridor (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia) as well as Alaska. If you graduated in the summer quarter prior to the year of the competition or later, you are considered a current student in the competition under these rules. Please contact us to discuss your eligibility.
2. The competition entry must be developed during the student’s tenure at the college or university. Students working with outside entrepreneurs must create their own original business plan and have responsibility for their own portion of the business.
3. All submissions to the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge must live up to the higher ideals of the University of Washington. The team’s idea must be appropriate for a university-sponsored event. The Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship reserves the right to disqualify any entry that is its judgment violates the letter or the spirit of the competition or exceeds the bounds of social convention.
4. If the team or company entering the competition is revenue positive, actual annual revenue cannot exceed $250k. For the purposes of the Challenge, “revenue” includes but is not limited to commercialization grants (I-Corp, Gap Fund, SBIR, etc.), friends and family investment, and competition winnings. Please note this is different than the company’s projected revenue. This rule does not apply to projected revenue.
5. Eligible students can form a team with alumni and other non-students, but only currently eligible students may pitch and engage with judges at the booth during the Final Round.
6. Students must have an ownership stake in the business or the potential for equity or employment.
7. Only student team members are eligible to earn prize money. No payments will be made to non-students.

Note: The Director of the Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship reserves the right to make the final determination of the eligibility of submitted business ventures.

2027 Prizes:

$15,000 Grand Prize, The Hollomon Family
$10,000 Second Place Prize, WRF Capital
$5,000 Third Place Prize, Scale LLP

Best Idea Prizes ($2,500)

The Best Idea prizes were created to reward student teams in the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge for their exceptional work in several distinct categories. The teams are selected by a special group of judges during the live Challenge.

Please note that no team can take more than one Best Idea prize, but can also win one of the main prizes.

Best Idea for a Medical Device, presented by Naturacur
Recognizes the medical device concept (for a physical product) with the most promising opportunity to significantly improve the lives of patients or providers.

Best Idea in Digital Health Prize, presented by Mindful Therapy Group
Recognizes an innovative digital health application that has a high likelihood of being implemented in practical healthcare situations and is expected to have a meaningful impact.

Best Idea for Addressing Health Access and Disparities Prize, presented by the Population Health Initiative
Recognizes a student innovation or intervention that seeks to close the gap in health disparities for low-income and disadvantaged groups by increasing access to point-of-care healthcare services and/or addressing systemic biases within the current healthcare system.

2027 Partners

Thank you to our 2027 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge partners for their generosity and dedication to helping students achieve their potential.

Game Changers:
The Hollomon Family
Mindful Therapy Group
WRF Capital

Visionaries:
UW College of Engineering

Innovators:
A-Alpha Bio
Fenwick & West
Microsoft Innovation Group
Naturacur Wound Healing
Pack Ventures
Perkins Coie
Scale LLP
Science & Engineering Business Association (SEBA)
SoundBio Lab
UW Bioengineering
UW Population Health Initiative

Screening Round Requirements

The first hurdle on your path is to submit a winning 5/7-page business summary, so your team is selected to among the Top Teams and invited to participate to the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge finals.

What should be included in the 5-7 page business summary?

• • Definition of the Problem
    • Who cares about this problem?
    • What is the size of the problem?
    • What will be different if you solve it?
  • Proposed Solution
    • What is your idea for solving the problem?
    • What is unique about your solution.
    • Why would customers be excited enough to pay you for your solution?
  • Team
    • Who are the individuals on the team?
    • Do they have the skills to solve the problem?
    • Have they engaged community or industry advisors, mentors, and experts?

• • Description of the DEMO

• • Market Opportunity

• • Impact
    Clinical Outcomes, Safety, Effectiveness, Healthcare Access, Affordability, Equity, Usability, Social Impact, Ethics, Data Privacy, Community, Supply Chain, Environment, etc.
  • Questions you should address (use your own format and style)
    • Have you defined the problem?
    • Have you clearly described the proposed solution?
    • If there is a demo, what is it? (prototype, simulation, proof of concept, poster, video)?
    • Is the solution original or is it a novel application of an existing product or service?
    • Has the team researched and described the market opportunity and the competitors?
    • Has the team interviewed potential customers? How many? What did they say?
    • What is the scope of the opportunity (dollars, units produced, global impact)?
    • Does the solution fit the problem? Does it demonstrate an appropriate balance between the cost of the solution and its impact on the problem?
    • What is an estimate of the cost to produce?
    • What is the estimated timeline for development leading to launch of the product/service?
  • Examples:
    • 6XIS
    • Omnibot
    • Nanodropper
    • Z-Ion+ Technologies

To prepare your own business summary, use this Submission Checklist, which includes the judging criteria judges will be using in the Screening Round to evaluate all entries.

Final Round

If your team makes it past the screening round, you will be invited to participate in the live final event. Your project will be judged by 150+ professionals based on your 1-page business summary, 1-minute pitch, demo/prototype, and potential for impact. On the challenge day, you will be assigned a table to display your prototype. A member of each team will give a 1-minute pitch to the audience of 150+ professionals – the judges. After, the judges will circulate around tables to learn more about the teams and projects before picking their top choices for the prizes.

What should be included in the 1-page business summary?

• The criteria and contents for the 1-page business summary are the same as those for the 5/7-page summary (above), just shorter and more concise.

What matters for the 1-minute pitch?

• How motivated and enthusiastic is the team?
• Does the pitch convey the essential elements of the problem, the solution, and the market opportunity?
• Does the team understand the problem/solution from both technical and marketing perspectives?
• Has the pitch generated enthusiasm to see the demo?

What should the demonstration or prototype table setup include?

• Does the Demo work? If it is not yet complete, could it work?
• Has the team provided test results and validation?
• Can the team describe the process and how it works?
• Can they describe how it could be improved?
• Is this solution efficient? Does it make optimal use of resources?
• How practical is this solution?
• What would it cost to make?
• Is this original work? Is it a novel application of an existing product? Is it off-the-shelf?

What questions should be answered for the potential for impact?

• Could this team and this solution have a substantial impact in the market? In healthcare? In people’s lives?
• Is there a patent in the works?

What is the regulatory path, if necessary?

Past Examples:

aibi

CroXwise

Nanodropper

ApnoMed

The Buerk Center recognizes that there are a variety of AI programs available to assist with written work and visual models or presentations. While these programs are useful tools, they are not a replacement for human creativity, originality, and critical thinking. However, within limited circumstances and with proper attribution, AI programs may be used as a tool by Teams to prepare for our competitions. Please see below for our expectations around AI usage:

Check Its References

Make sure to double check any market, scientific, or other data you receive from a generative AI model. You want to avoid repeating “made up” facts or reciting information from an out-of-date training set. AI models have built-in biases as they are trained on limited underlying sources; they reproduce, rather than challenge, errors in the sources.

Responsible Data Use, AI, and IP:

Beware of putting any proprietary data into open-source models. Your data, ideas, models, etc. may no longer be considered protected data that is confidential. For this reason, we recommend that students use the UW-instance of CoPilot (Sign in with your UW NetID). AI generated work is also in most cases not patentable or copyrightable and may even be considered automated plagiarism because it is derived from previously created texts, models, etc. without cited sources.”

Stay True to You

Generative AI is great at analysis and feedback, but as mentioned above, it cannot replace your unique creativity or thought process. Judges do not want to hear what ChatGPT thinks about your idea – they want to hear the excitement and enthusiasm directly from you. You and your team must craft and verify your work. Cutting and pasting without understanding will not advance or validate your ideas. Remember that AI tools lack the critical thinking and abductive reasoning to evaluate and reflect, as well as make judgements.

Cite Your Sources

Acknowledge work done by a generative AI model like you would another team member. For example, indicate in a footnote or other citation where rough drafts or graphics were generated by AI and through which platforms. You are ultimately responsible for the impact of any content produced and presented by your team, including AI-generated material.

Interested in entering the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge? Want to meet other students who want to join your team? There are multiple ways to find team members:

1. StartupTree
2. Team Formation Events
3. Hollomon Health Innovation Practicum
4. Capstone Course in Your Major

As long as you have one student on the team who is enrolled in a college or university in the Cascadia Corridor – Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia, as well as Alaska, your team can enter the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge.

Questions? Contact Marghe Guaita via email: [email protected]

• StartupTree
  Find teammates through UW StartupTree online. Students log in with their UW net ID. In this web portal you will find some students who have an idea and need more team members to help out and you will also find students with specific skills who are interested in innovation and want to join a team. Think of it as a match-making site for innovators!
• Team Formation Events (or How to Find Your People) 
  Attend an event around campus to meet other students interested in life science innovation and the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge. Visit the Events section on UW StartupTree or look for Buerk Center events through the UW Foster website to learn more.
• Hollomon Health Innovation Practicum
  The fall quarter hands-on Hollomon Health Innovation Practicum course is another way students can dive in and learn about health challenges while working on team-based projects. Many of the class teams decide to continue on into the extracurricular Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge where they will connect with mentors and further develop their concepts. Learn more in the Hollomon Health Innovation Practicum: ENTRE 445/545 tab.
• Capstone Course Teams
  You may be in an engineering, science, or other major that requires a capstone project as a degree requirement. Why not build on that capstone by bringing it in to the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge where the visibility of your accomplishments can be increased and mentors you connect with can help you take it to the next level?

Hollomon Health Innovation Practicum

ENTRE 445/545 | Autumn Quarter | 2 credits
Thursdays, 4-5:50 pm

Instructor: William J. Canestaro, PhD, Former Managing Director, Washington Research Foundation/WRF Capital, [email protected]

About: This course is designed to give students an overview of the challenges that are necessary for any young business in healthcare or life sciences to consider. Healthcare is an industry that, at its best, is built around strong reproducible science with healthcare providers acting as the patient’s agent. This places the consumer in a different position than other markets where they are more in control of their purchases. As such, those working in the area will need to have a grasp of the concepts of entrepreneurship as well as a strong understanding of when the traditional rules of economics and entrepreneurship no longer apply.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the course students should expect to have an awareness of the system of regulation of health technologies, the process of development for health technologies, and the economics of healthcare.

Class Project
In addition to attending and participating in all classes as an individual student, you will also be expected to complete a Class Project as part of a team that will be assigned to you. This project touches on all of the domains (background science, clinical research, regulatory considerations, economics and reimbursement, ethics) that we have discussed in class. There are 2 ways to complete this project. You can review a technology or healthcare area (pre-approved examples below, alternatives only by permission of the instructor) or you can review a single technology or business idea. Teams will conduct 3 Domain Expert interviews in support of this project.

Grading

• Class Participation and Pre-Class Questions (10%)
• Peer Reviews (10%)
• Interview Reports (15%)
• Final Presentation (25%)
• Final Paper (20%)
• Weekly Reports (20%)

Class Plan
The following class plan from 2022 illustrates the course design. Speakers, topics, required readings and assignment deadlines are subject to change.

CLASS PLAN 2022
Date	Topic	Confirmed Class Speakers
Class 1: 9/29	Course Overview & Project Intro	None
Class 2: 10/6	Defining the Problem & Exploring Solutions	Jessica Roberto, Buerk Center for Entrepreneurship
Class 3: 10/13	Overview of the US Healthcare System	Richard Proscia, Providence Ventures Dan Low, AdaptX Chris Damman, SuperGut Tom Lendvay, Tend Health Sravanthi Parasi, Swedish
Class 4: 10/20	IP in Healthcare and Life Sciences	Fiona Wills, CoMotion Arna Ionescu Stoll, Wavely Diagnostics
Class 5: 10/27	Regulation of Health Technologies	Mike Willingham, Google Health Daniel Silva, Monod
Class 6: 11/3	Evidence in Healthcare and Life Sciences	Sam Browd, Proprio Jenny Cronin, AI2 Incubator Chris Blackley, Prescryptive Health
Class 7: 11/11	Health Insurance and Health Systems in the US: Health Economic and Quantifying Value	John Cake, Premera Blue Cross David Younger, A-alpha Bio
Class 8: 11/17	Financing for Health Startups	Donald Summers, Altruist Partners Panel of Local Investors
Class 9: 12/1	Exits	Kate Nelson, JP Morgan Ryan McRobert, Fenwick & West
Class 10: 12/9	Final Presentations	None

 

Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop

The Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop brings together students from across campus to work on digital solutions to pressing problems in the healthcare system. Student participants in this “idea-athon” will learn about the unique challenges of this space while receiving feedback from stakeholders and changemakers in the field. The workshop is open to UW undergraduate and graduate students interested in computer science, life sciences, healthcare, or entrepreneurship – no prior programming experience necessary!

Additional events leading up to the annual workshop address cutting-edge topics in digital health and are great introductions to this dynamic field of health innovation. Learn more about this year’s discussion topics and other related opportunities below.

Event	Date
DubHacks 2026	Saturday, October 17 & Sunday, October 18 Registration coming soon! Join the Buerk Center at the largest student-run hackathon on campus! We’ll be on hand Saturday to support your projects and share opportunities to keep moving them forward after the event, including the 2026 Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop and the 2027 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge (HIC).
Digital Health Lunch & Learn: AI Tools in Healthcare Innovation	Thursday, October 22 Noon – 1 PM, Hans Rosling Center 101 Generative AI tools claiming to speed up innovation are everywhere – but which ones are best suited for creating solutions in healthcare? In this session, students will learn about the latest AI agents and models designed for building in the digital health space and how these platforms can be used to augment their own ideas and creativity. Attendees will also learn about upcoming opportunities on campus, including the 2026 Digital Health Innovation Workshop and the 2027 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge.
Digital Health Lunch & Learn: Good Data, Better Health	Thursday, November 5 Noon – 1 PM, Hans Rosling Center 101 Join a dynamic panel of experts as they explore the power of data in building AI tools that truly serve patients. Students will learn about the impact of data bias, how to access meaningful datasets while navigating patient privacy, and how to design models for integrity and impact. Attendees will also learn about upcoming opportunities on campus, including the 2026 Digital Health Innovation Workshop and the 2027 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge.
2026 Sacia Digital Health Innovation Workshop	Saturday, November 14 9:30 AM – 4:30 PM, Hans Rosling Center 155 Registration coming soon! Every year, students from across disciplines work together during this “idea-athon” to dream up digital solutions to pressing problems in the healthcare system. Participants receive valuable feedback on their ideas from stakeholders and changemakers in the field. They also have the chance to participate in a Pitch Challenge at the end of the workshop and win a prize for Best Pitch! All teams receive information on continuing resources to turn their solutions into entries for the 2027 Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge and other Buerk Center competitions. Open to all UW undergraduate and graduate students interested in computer science, life sciences, healthcare, or entrepreneurship. No prior programming experience or pre-existing solution idea necessary.

Prototype Funding for teams entering the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge

Prototype funding can spur development and help convey your idea to a broader audience. We have funding available to teams that are entering the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge this year to help with creating a physical model, object, or demo for their entry.

Prototype Funding Application
Deadline: Monday, December 8, @ Noon PST

Please Note: Teams will be notified of the amount of funding they will be awarded 2-3 weeks after submission.

Open to registered students attending WA colleges or universities.

Learn more: Prototype Funding Info Sessions (optional)
Virtual Session: October 30, 12:30 – 1:00 PM
Virtual Session: November 19, 3:00 – 3:30 PM

Open to registered students attending WA colleges or universities.

Learn more: Prototype Funding Info Sessions (optional)

In-Person Session: October 30, 3:00 – 4:00 PM PST @ Startup Hall
Virtual Session: November 21, 12:30 – 1:30 PM PST

Student teams are invited to apply for funds that can be used to:

• Purchase materials
• Rent equipment
• Pay for access to makerspaces and pay-for-use research facilities

Funds can NOT be used for:

• Marketing
• Business cards
• Displays
• Signage
• Computers
• Digital devices
• Legal or professional fees
• Third-party software or app development
• Paying team members or consultants
• Transportation
• Lodging

Information you will need to complete the application:

• Current student team member’s information (we understand this may change). This will be used to invite Team Members to complete their Profiles for the application. PLEASE NOTE: TEAM MEMBER PROFILES MUST BE COMPLETED BEFORE THE APPLICATION CAN BE SUBMITTED! We recommend notifying your team members of this requirement and encouraging them to submit their profile well before the deadline.
• Description of the problem you are attempting to solve.
• Description of the solution you are proposing.
• Description of the prototype you will build to demonstrate your solution.
• A budget estimate (itemized list) to build your prototype. Changes are expected but any major changes must be approved by a competition manager.

Awards are generally between $500-$2500, although other requests will be considered. Teams must commit to entering the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge if they accept prototype funding. Teams will be notified of the amount of funding they will be awarded 2-3 weeks after the deadline. Individual projects or technologies may only receive up to 3 consecutive rounds of prototype funding.

For questions about eligibility, contact Marghe Guaita via email: [email protected]

Resources to Help You

Resources to help you with your 5-7 page business summary for entry into the Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge include:

StartupTree

Connect to other entrepreneurship students to build teams and learn from each other. Learn more about UW StartupTree.

Entrepreneurship Events

Attend an event to meet other students interested in entrepreneurship and the competitions. Visit the Events section on UW StartupTree or look for Buerk Center events through the UW Foster website.

Startup Resources

Need help figuring out where to do market research, how to write up a business summary, or prepare an elevator pitch? Links to great resources can be found on our Startup Resources page.

Newsletters

• WE-REACH: Customer discovery and commercialization training program for life science-focused startups in the Pacific Northwest.
• Life Science Washington Institute (LSWI)  – A regional non-profit organization with workshops and an internship posting page for biomedical and medtech startup companies. LSWI Events Page.

Courses

Health Innovation Practicum | ENTRE 445/545 | Thursdays, 4:00-5:50pm, Fall Quarter. Team-based course covering the fundamentals of healthcare and startups. The course is helpful, but not required for entering the competition. See Health Innovation Practicum tab.
Business Plan Practicum | ENTRE 440/540 | Tuesdays, 6:00-7:50pm, Winter Quarter. Speakers and resources that will help you understand how to build a business.