Who Will Claim the 3 Million Yuan Prize? The First 'Guochuang Cup' Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Imminent!

The Grand Finals of the 1st “Guochuang Cup” Medical Device Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition and the China Medical Equipment Innovation Competition will be held in Longhua, Shenzhen on July 26, 2022. Eight projects from the Startup Category and twelve from the Enterprise Category, having distinguished themselves through fierce preliminary and semi-final rounds, will compete in the final showdown for the highest honor.

This competition is hosted by the National Innovation Center for High-Performance Medical Devices (hereinafter referred to as the “National Innovation Center”), under the guidance of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Guangdong Province, the Shenzhen Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, and the People’s Government of Longhua District, Shenzhen. It is jointly organized by the China Association of Medical Equipment, the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Mindray Medical, United Imaging Healthcare, Lifetech Scientific, Harbin Institute of Technology, and other partners. The competition aims to identify outstanding teams and high-quality projects in frontier areas of medical devices, promote breakthroughs in core industry technologies, accelerate the transfer and commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, deepen the integration of industry and finance, build an open, shared, and collaboratively innovative ecosystem, foster high-quality industrial cluster development, enhance the autonomy and controllability of the industrial chain, and provide critical support for the “Healthy China” strategy.

Launched in October 2021, this competition is positioned as the most authoritative and influential professional event in China’s medical device sector. Adhering to a “premium quality” standard, it focuses on frontier areas of medical devices to identify groundbreaking innovative technologies and products, support outstanding teams with original capabilities, and cultivate future “unicorn” enterprises. With over 300 project submissions, 42 high-quality projects advanced to the semifinals after formal review and preliminary rounds. On December 22, 2021, through rigorous, fair, and impartial on-site evaluation by expert judges, the top 20 projects were selected to advance to the finals.

Semifinal Competition Entries Showcase

Semifinal Project Showcase

To ensure the professionalism, forward-looking perspective, and authority of the finals, a judging panel comprising nine experts will be established. The panel includes three technical experts, two clinical experts, and four investment experts. Its members range from university professors with long-term commitments to biomedical engineering research, R&D heads of leading enterprises, and directors of renowned hospitals, to partners from top-tier firms currently most active in investing in China’s medical device sector. Additionally, mystery guests from authoritative industry media will lend their support. This diverse judging panel will conduct comprehensive evaluations of each project’s technological advancement, clinical value of its products, and corporate growth potential, with the aim of identifying the true “Stars of Tomorrow.”

The “National Innovation Cup” aims to establish the most influential professional innovation competition for medical devices in China. The identity of the inaugural champion will therefore carry special significance. Another highlight of this edition is the substantial prize pool, totaling RMB 3.01 million, with the first-prize award amounting to RMB 300,000 in the Startup Category and a remarkable RMB 500,000 in the Enterprise Category. Due to the pandemic, there was an interval of over six months between the semifinals and the finals. During this period, all participating projects made varying degrees of progress, introducing considerable uncertainty into the final showdown.

The finals will be conducted in the form of an offline roadshow. In consideration of epidemic prevention and control, the venue will not be open to the general public; attendance will be by targeted invitation only. The competition will also be live-streamed online in its entirety. Confirmed media partners for the live broadcast include VCBeat, Duchuang APP, CCTV Video Mobile Network, Xinhua News Agency’s Live Cloud, and Medical Industry Observer. To enhance interaction between online and offline participants, a “Most Popular Project” selection will be held concurrently with the finals. Online viewers can vote for their favored projects while watching the competition. This raises the question: Will the “Most Popular Project” as chosen by online audiences also win the greatest favor from the on-site judges? Let us wait and see.