Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development Announces its Eighth Annual DevelopmentXChange

WASHINGTON, July 18, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- What: Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development's eighth annual DevelopmentXChange: 

The annual DevelopmentXChange challenges global problem-solvers to harness the power of ingenuity to develop and scale transformational solutions to improve maternal and newborn survival in poor, hard-to-reach communities around the world. In Round 8, Saving Lives at Birth seeks to catalyze scale and sustainability of the most promising solutions that bring together cutting-edge science and/or low-cost technologies, service delivery, and demand innovation in new ways. Ten of the brightest innovators from across the globe will come together to present their groundbreaking solutions that have the potential to drastically reduce maternal and newborn mortality. 

After a rigorous multi-month review process of about 500 applications, the ten selected finalists will join nearly 50 other Saving Lives at Birth grantees to take part in: 

• The annual Pitch Competition to pitch innovative ideas to investors and potential partners
• Curated 1:1 partnering and mentoring meetings
• The open innovation Marketplace filled with the most cutting-edge maternal and newborn life-saving innovations

Who: Ten entrepreneurs from around the world will compete for the 2018 awards. To learn more about our newly announced finalists, please click here(https://savinglivesatbirth.net/innovation/2018/innovators/all). 

Other attendees will include existing Saving Lives at Birth innovators; program partners; potential collaborators, expert mentors, and global health and international development practitioners. 

When: Thursday, July 26, 2018. The event will include: 

• 9:00-10:30 am: Opening Plenary
• 10:45- 3:30 pm: Pitch Competition
• 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm: A performance of scenes from BUMP, this year's mainstage production of the EST/Sloan Project, inspired by Jorge Odón, the Argentinian car mechanic and innovator behind the SL@B-supported Odon Device.
• 5:00-7:00 pm: Innovation Marketplace and Networking Reception, featuring a keynote by The Honorable Joy Phumaphi
• 6:30 pm: Announcements

Times subject to change, please register here (https://go.venturewell.org/devxpublicregistration) for event updates. 

Other Information: The public can vote for their favorite Round 8 innovations from now until 5:00 pm ET on July 25. The finalist with the most votes will receive the honorary People's Choice Award. To vote in the People's Choice Award, please click here (https:/go.venturewell.org/devxpeopleschoiceaward). 

Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development is a global call for groundbreaking, scalable solutions to infant and maternal mortality around the time of birth. The program leverages the collective resources of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Grand Challenges Canada (funded by the Government of Canada), UK's Department of International Development (DFID), and the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA). 

Launched in 2011, Saving Lives at Birth is currently in its eighth award round. To date, the Partners have funded 115 innovative tools and approaches, aiming to address the 303,000 maternal deaths, 2.7 million neo-natal deaths, and 2.6 million stillbirths that occur each year. 

To learn more about the finalists' innovations, please go to: www.savinglivesatbirth.net. 

SOURCE USAID

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