The Answers to the Top 8 Questions You May Have When Applying to PULSE
Still on the fence? We’ve got the answers you may have been asking yourself. #ScaleWithPULSE
- What are the requirements to apply to PULSE@MassChallenge?
In order to be eligible, you must be a Digital Health startup that has less than $5M in revenue and less than $5M in funding. To us, Digital Health means solving healthcare challenges with some level of connectivity. Here are some subcategories that our cohort identified with last year to help you decide whether your startup falls within Digital Health:
Big Data/Analytics
Cybersecurity
Digital Medical Devices
General Wellness
Health IT
Machine Learning/AI
Medical Device Interoperability
Mobile Medical Apps
Personalized Medicine
Population Health Management
Software as a Medical Device (SaMD)
Telemedicine
Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality

2. Why PULSE@MassChallenge? What is the difference between the core MassChallenge program?
What makes PULSE@MassChallenge stand out and what differentiates us from the core MassChallenge program is that we are a digital health-only lab in the middle of the nation’s hottest medical community. Our program is centered around an extensive match-making process that connects your startup with the strategic initiatives of your company and our champions. The only requirements we have to apply is that your startup must have less than $5 million in funding and less than $5 million in revenue.

3. What resources or value-adds does PULSE@MassChallenge offer?
If selected to join the 2018 Digital Health Lab, we offer free office space in the Longwood Medical area for a full year, access to our community of experts and valuable partners that will work closely with you during the program, and 250k in rewards with no equity taken. Our 2017 cohort has unanimously voiced that the Champion to startup strategic partnership is the greatest value add. If you want to learn more about PULSE from the perspective of a startup, check out what our Alumni are saying about us!

4. How is the prize distributed to startups accepted into the program?
The 250K+ in no equity-cash is divided into $50K in scholarships and $200K+ in prize money. Up to $50K will be distributed in needs based scholarships to teams before the program. At the end of the program $200K will be distributed to the program winners. Our expert panel of Final Judges will both decide the winning startups and allocate the prize money accordingly. Last year, first, second and third prize won $100K, $60K and $40K, respectively. There will also be prizes for winners of “People’s Choice” and “Startup’s Choice” that are funded through sponsorship and donations.

5. What level of commitment does your program require?
We require that at least one team representative engages in our program and works out of our office space for one week or five non-consecutive days per month. Levels of engagement range from core program events such as the Breakfast of Champions and Final Judging to Cohort Update attendance. As long as you are meeting the goals that you initially set with your champion, you can be as involved as you want; it is not a one size fits all participation grade.

6. Do we have to be based out of Boston? If we are not based out of Boston, do we have to move?
You are not required to be based in Boston to apply or participate, but we require that at least one team member spends one week or five non-consecutive days per month in our space so that you can take the most value out of the program. We can provide you with access to our mentors, focus groups, workshops and other activities occurring in Boston. If you’re interested in expanding your customer base here, we definitely encourage you to visit often. We will be providing some scholarships to help offset the cost to travel for companies headquartered outside of Massachusetts.

7. What happens if our mentor or Champion wants to invest/purchase IP?
PULSE@MassChallenge does not take equity. However, we will not get in the way of you doing business with our champions or partners. We cannot anticipate what kind of deals you will build during the program.

8. What are the challenges the champions are interested in this year? Check out their Reverse Pitches here.
Administrative Burden
Aging
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR)
Avatar
Best in Digital Health
Biosensors
Brain Health
Capacity Management/ED Throughput
Cardiovascular Disease
Care Coordination
Care Team Support
Caregiving
Chronic Disease Management
Clinical Decision Support
Clinical Studies & Clinical Trial Recruitment
Cloud Services
Connected Devices
COPD
Cybersecurity
Data Analytics/Big Data
Diabetes
Digital Health Based in Massachusetts
Food Insecurity
General Neurology
Genomics
Health Disparities
High Medical Costs
Holistic Health
Home Health Care
Interoperability
Intrapartum
IoT
Machine Learning/AI
Manufacturing and Supply Chain
Medication Adherence
Mental Health
mHealth or Mobile Technologies
Neurodegenerative Disorders
New Care Delivery Models
Nutrition
Oncology
Opioid Abuse Support and Prevention
Parkinsons
Patient Access
Patient Education and Self-Management
Patient Engagement
Patient Experience
Patient Flow
Patient Generated Data
Patient Monitoring
Perioperative Operations
Psychiatry
Public Health
Rare and Orphan Diseases
Reduce Medical Cost
Social Networking
Stroke
Telehealth
Traffic Crashes
Transitions of Care
Apply today and bring your digital health startup to the next level.
Early Bird Application Deadline: 9/15, 12pm ET
Regular Application Deadline: 10/10, 12pm ET
Do you have more questions? Join us for an info session (either in person or virtually) on August 17th, 24th or 31st! #ScaleWithPULSE

