What would happen if global health innovators appeared on “Shark Tank,” the reality TV show that judges business concepts from straightforward to zany?
It’d probably look a bit like the pitch competition the late July DevelopmentXChange conference in Washington, D.C. The event was organized by Saving Lives At Birth: A Grand Challenge For Development, a program that gives out grants to projects helping to improve medical care for moms and babies in low-income settings. It’s funded by groups like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. and U.K. government. (Note: As readers of Goats and Soda may know, the Gates Foundation is also a funder of this blog and of NPR.)
The ten participants showcased a variety of innovations, each in different stages of development: medical devices that can work without electricity, new ways to administer medications and high-tech strategies to give women timely medical advice. All have previously received anywhere from $250,000 to $2 million from the program.
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