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WCCHN Presents
BoostUp
A Cardiac Pitch Competition
Fueling Innovation | Accelerating Change
Do you have an idea about how to help cardiac kids or their families?
Is your pediatric heart project ready to take the next step?
Stop waiting for the pieces to fall into place.
Get the support you need to launch and succeed.
Game Changer
WCCHN presents BoostUp, a pediatric cardiac pitch competition designed to give good ideas a leg up. Innovators and change-makers across Western Canada are invited to ideate and pitch for funding. Give your project a boost by building, testing, and validating your plan.
Let WCCHN help fund the mission.
Eligibility
Pitch applications are open to small teams, any role, any discipline, any department, any pediatric cardiac site across Western Canada (family support groups included).
If your idea is to the benefit of pediatric cardiac patients or their families in any way, or to the benefit of the services provided by a pediatric cardiology program, you are eligible to apply.
Examples of successful pitches might include things like educational resources, teambuilding activities, multicenter research initiatives, quality improvement and data analytics projects, equipment requests, peer support opportunities, etc.
Pitch for whatever amount you think you will need. Award values range from $1,000 to $10,000 and will be split into two streams for presentation based on value amount.
Important Dates
Applications Open – TBA
Applications Close – TBA
Finalists Notified – TBA
Pitch Recordings Due – TBA
Pitch Live – TBA
01
Build
Build
Ideate and Innovate
Try us! Tell us what you have in mind, why you want it or need it, and what your plan is to bring the idea to life. Bonus points for teams or projects that span more than one province or site, and for those that hold demonstrated potential for wider expansion. Need help making connections in other provinces or at other sites? Email us and we’ll introduce you.
Pitch
Converse and Convince
Present your easy, functional, proof-of-concept plan in front of a live audience. Our panel of esteemed judges will provide you with on-the-spot feedback in front of a live audience. Feedback is designed to promote feasibility and sustainability so you can stay in action for the long run. The Judges will rate pitches against a pre-established set of criteria. View the judging rubric here.
02
Pitch
03
Win
Win
Succeed and Celebrate
A number of prizes ranging in value from $1,000 to $10,000 will be awarded. Three of them will be announced in real time on the night of the event:
Judge’s Choice | Audience Favorite | Alumni’s Pick
Not interested in applying, but want to watch people try? Register to attend as a member of our live audience here. All audience members get to vote for their favourite, and the first 100 registered to watch will also be entered into our $500 “Pay it Forward” Audience Raffle so we can give their good ideas a shot, too.
Launch
Evaluate and Iterate
Winners will use their award to test run their idea within twelve months of winning. All winners will join our BoostUp Alumni and are given an opportunity to feedback their successes and learnings to a wider community. When having a platform to lead by example, we can grow opportunity to team up, iterate, expand, and accelerate change.
04
Launch
Why this is different
NOT YOUR TYPICAL GRANT APPLICATION
Think of this as the opposite of a grant application. Instead of creating huge documents and scientific proposals, you will create four minute pitch presentations for your proof-of-concept product or service proposal. Plan just enough features to be usable by early consumers who can provide feedback for future project development. This validated learning will help teams to iterate by starting with something small and allowing good things to grow progressively.
Getting started isn't
for the faint of heart
Making the best decisions and having the right resources is
the difference between thriving and going back to the drawing board. BoostUp will help you to:
Take the Leap
LET'S DO THIS!
THIS CHALLENGE IS PERFECT FOR
Local projects having trouble securing startup funding
Projects ready to launch but needing some quick cash flow to get past the first steps
Projects looking to collaborate across western Canada
Smaller projects looking to expand and go big
Teams needing some extra support, resources, connections, or guidance to launch successfully and sustainably
Watch
FEB 9, 2023
7:00
Opening Remarks
7:10
Teams 1 - 3 Pitch
7:35
Pay it Forward Audience Raffle
7:40
Teams 4 - 6 Pitch
8:05
Judge Deliberation + Audience Q&A + Audience Vote
8:15
Winner's Circle + Closing Remarks
"A good start with a focus on positive, continuous change will outperform the perfectionist in the long run."
A year from now, will you still be at the drawing board, or will you be championing your change?
About WCCHN
BETTER TOGETHER
The Western Canadian Children’s Heart Network (WCCHN) is a collection of hospitals providing highly specialized cardiac care for children across western Canada. We work together to link expertise, expand the peer group, collaborate on complex cases, streamline referrals, monitor referral patterns and surgical waitlists, and benchmark outcomes internationally so that all children in western Canada can have access to the highest standard of care available.
To learn more, visit wcchn.ca
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