I Mental Health Innovation Contest of the TECSAM Network

We announce the first Mental Health Innovation Contest of the TECSAM Network! If you have an innovative idea or solution in mental health, submit your project until July 15, 2022. We will help you bring it closer to the market and society!

Until July 15, innovative and disruptive projects that provide a solution to one or more mental health challenges and that seek support to approach the market and society can be presented

The winners will be awarded mentoring and advice programs or, in the case of the first prize, a pilot test in the DKV digital ecosystem valued at up to €15,000

Kick-off for the first Mental Health Innovation Contest of the TECSAM Network, created to identify, promote and support potential innovative ideas and solutions that respond to the main challenges in mental health. The works, which can come from individuals, public or private entities, as well as consortiums, may be submitted until July 15.

Innovation and mental health will be the leading topics of the 1st edition of the MHIC (Mental Health Innovation Contest), organized by the TECSAM Network with the collaboration of DKV Innolab and the Mental Health Cluster of Catalonia (CSMC) as partners. Participants can present their projects in two different categories depending on the degree of maturity and development of their proposal: “Innovative and disruptive ideas”, designed and awarded by the TECSAM Network, and “Digital solutions for mental health”, with the design and funding of DKV Innolab within the framework of its DKV Challenge initiative.

The MHIC wants to be an engine for activating the entrepreneurial and innovative ecosystem of Catalonia around a series of mental health challenges previously identified by people affected by mental disorders in a Mental Health ChallengesCo-creating Day organized by the Network in January, in which specific problems were defined with the aim of being transferred and resolved in this first appointment of the Contest.

With this initiative, the TECSAM Network pursues the creation of pioneering projects derived from collaboration between the world of mental health research and the Catalan private sector (especially startups) to respond to one or more of the 8 challenges posed: early detection and prevention in mental health, quality of life and mental health, stigma and social exclusion, vulnerable populations (adolescents, the elderly, etc.), mental health in the workplace (stress, anxiety and depression), mental health and gender, ageing and loneliness, and suicide. The ultimate goal of the contest is to give these projects an outlet in society by speeding up the entry of innovative solutions into the market.

Participants with projects in their initial stage may submit their application in the first category, corresponding to the Network, in which we help your project or innovative idea to approach the market. Two projects with mentoring programs will be awarded, with values of up to €7,500 (for the first prize) and €3,000 (for the second). These programs include consultancies related to intellectual property, definition of the business model, analysis of the target market and market entry strategies, feasibility and technological scalability studies, regulatory studies, among others [download the bases here]. In this category, projects must be submitted in collaboration with a research group that is a member of the Network [check the list of members here].

In the second category, which falls within the framework of the DKV Challenge, it is intended for more mature projects that have passed some type of validation. In this case, two projects will also be awarded: the first prize, valued at €15,000, will be a collaboration agreement with DKV Innolab to carry out a pilot test to enter the market hand in hand with DKV’s digital solutions ecosystem; and the second, with a value of €8,000, a support and mentoring program executed by the DKV Innolab team adapted to the needs of the project.

The preliminary selection process for the 4 winners contemplates a first pre-selection period, which will take place on September 2,in which a total of 20 finalists, 10 per category, will be designated. In the “Innovative and disruptive ideas” category, finalists will receive the Red TECSAM certificate, while in the “Digital solutions for mental health” category, those selected will obtain the DKV S+h certificate.

With the aim of encouraging the creation of joint projects between the field of mental health research and the innovative startup ecosystem, the TECSAM Network organizes Technology Exploration Day (TED) on Tuesday, June 21, a free and open co-creation day for finding new approaches to the challenges in mental health and stimulate the generation of collaborative projects among the attendees in view of the MHIC.

In order to encourage the creation of joint projects between the mental health research world and the innovative startup ecosystem, the TECSAM Network organizes the Technology Exploration Day (TED),on Tuesday, June 21, an open and free co-creation day to find new approaches to mental health challenges and stimulate the generation of collaborative projects amongst the attendees in view of the MHIC.

The 4 MHIC winners will be announced on September 21 during the DKV Innolab Awards Ceremony. And, in addition, they will have the opportunity to present their pitches on their innovative projects in mental health at the Mental Health Innovation Day,a state-of-the-art event organized by the TECSAM Network in October 2022 (the final date will be announced soon) to bring together the whole innovative ecosystem in mental health.

You can find all the information about the Contest here.