Startup competitions seeking companies focused on cancer

They include Freedom from Cancer Startup Challenge and FACIT's Annual Pitch Competition

If you're a startup seeking opportunities to get funded, educated or connected, startup competitions are a great resource.

Vator has been holding its own competitions, using VatorX, to find and filter for the best startups. We've had some very successful and notable winners in the past that have gone on to raise big funding rounds including Thumbtack, DogVacay, Pokitdok, Grovo, Udemy and Apartment List, to name a few.

Anyone can list their program as VatorX is one of the most comprehensive listing guides to startup competitions, challenges, accelerators and programs. Click here to list your program!

As part of our weekly series, we'll look at top competitions with big cash prizes, as well as competitions that have teed up the most promising startups, to finding popular startup competitions you need to know about. 

Here are some of the startup competitions seeking companies focused on cancer:

• Freedom from Cancer Startup Challenge

Description: "The Center for Advancing Innovation and MedImmune have partnered to launch the Freedom from Cancer Startup Challenge (FCSC). The FCSC will feature risk mitigated, and commercially viable inventions from leading research organizations. The goal of the challenge is to accelerate and increase the volume of commercialized cancer inventions by launching new startups. Funding is provided by the Laura and John Arnold Foundation"

Prize: Thousands in cash prizes and the potential to pitch for additional startup seed funding

Previous winners: EcoGreen, Davis Oncology, Open Therapeutics, GeneWhisper, Practical Biotech

• FACIT's Annual Pitch Competition

Description: "Falcons' Fortunes (based on the popular TV series Dragons' Den) invites Ontario-based entrepreneurs working in the oncology space to pitch innovative research ideas to an external panel of judges. Hosted by the FACIT Falcons (i.e. the FACIT team), this annual event offers $50,000 in Prospects funding to invest in the most promising oncology research idea. While the research idea should be novel and sound, the competition is for the best pitch i.e. the presentation that best convinces the investor judging panel on the value of the idea and how $50,000 would improve and/or better illustrate the potential, and if possible commercial, value of the innovative idea itself."

Prize: $50,000

Previous winners: Nanology Labs, Xpan

• BioTarget 2019

Description: "BioTarget is the world’s first biotech competition for emerging companies dedicated to finding new molecules for cancer treatment."

Prize: 1st prize: free experiments worth $100k
2nd prize: free experiments worth $50k
3rd prize: free experiments worth $20k
Top 8: invited to final pitch event

Previous winners: SpyCombinator

• BioChallenge

Description: " The BioChallenge accepts applications from startups that are developing a solution in healthcare, biotechnology, environmental science, or other life sciences industries. Previous finalists have been developing new tools, treatments, and solutions in cancer, pediatrics, digital health, advanced materials, and many other areas."

Prize: 

• Grand Prize: $25,000 cash
• BioFund Investment Prize: $25,000
• Audience Favorite Award: $2,500 cash

Previous winners: Instapath, RDnote 

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