Healthcare Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition
Seeking early-stage healthcare companies
Supported by the McNerney Healthcare Entrepreneurship Fund, this annual competition is open to early-stage healthcare companies, with a strong affiliation with Kellogg: at least one active founder or key management team member must be currently seeking a Kellogg degree or have been awarded a Kellogg degree in the past three years.
Applications for the 2027 business plan competition will open in Spring 2027.
Competition Structure
Four finalists for each category where selected by forum organizers and assigned a time to present. Judges were Kellogg alumni with successful track records as investors or entrepreneurs in healthcare.
Competition Requirements
Industry focus: Healthcare
Company: Formed with proper legal structure
Stage: Early stage
Kellogg Affiliation: Founder, CEO or COO. Must be currently seeking a Kellogg MBA degree (including EMBA) or have been awarded one in the past three years.
Two Categories
– Life Sciences and Products: BioPharma, medical devices, diagnostics, etc.
– Health Care Services: Digital health, software, payer/provider services, consumer health, etc.
$70,000 of cash Prizes
Each Category:
– 1st $25,000
– 2nd $10,000
2026 prize winners included:
Eight finalists (four in each category) were
selected by faculty to present in person. A total of $70,000 in prize money was
awarded, the winners are:
Life Sciences:
1st Place—Denver Life Sciences (Gurbinder Bali, ’24 EMBA, Co-founder & CEO and Kunal Lunawat, Co-founder)
2nd Place—Rora (Catherine Malloy, `25 MBA, Co-founder and Neha Mehta, `25 MBA, Co-founder)
Healthcare Services:
1st Place—VetAnvil (Evan Condon, ’27 MBA, COO and David Sontag, Founder & CEO)
2nd Place—SHFT Behavioral Health (Holly Brandchaft-White, ’23 MBA, LCSW, CCO and Genia Yovankin, `13 MBA, Founder & CEO)
Previous years
2026 Healthcare Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition Prize Winners
Eight finalists (four in each category) were selected by faculty to present in person. A total of $70,000 in prize money was awarded, the winners were:
Life Sciences:
1st Place—Denver Life Sciences (Gurbinder Bali ’24 EMBA, Co-founder & CEO and Kunal Lunawat, Co-founder)
2nd Place—Rora (Catherine Malloy `25 MBA, Co-founder and Neha Mehta `25 MBA, Co-founder)
Healthcare Services:
1st Place—VetAnvil (Evan Condon ’27 MBA, COO and David Sontag, Founder & CEO)
2nd Place—SHFT Behavioral Health (Holly Brandchaft-White ’23 MBA, LCSW, CCO and Genia Yovankin `13 MBA, Founder & CEO)
2025 Healthcare Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition Prize Winners
Eight finalists (four in each category) were selected by faculty to present in person. A total of $70,000 in prize money was awarded, the winners were:
Life Sciences/Products:
1st Place Tie—Affix (Abhinav Talwar ’23 MDMBA Co-Founder)
1st Place Tie—Nspire, (Olga Cuznetova ’22 MBA, CTO & Co-Founder, and Chris Wilson)
Healthcare Services:
1st Place—Percy (Jennifer Clark ’22 EMBA, COO)
2nd Place—Emoneeds (Tanmay Goel ’25 MMM, CEO)
2024 Healthcare Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition Prize Winners
Eight finalists (four in each category) were selected by faculty to present in person. A total of $70,000 in prize money was awarded, the winners were:
Life Sciences/Products:
1st Place—Opera Biosciences (Gerry Sapienza ’01 MBA & Julie Ming Liang ’23 PhD, Northwestern)
2nd Place—Nspire (Wadsworth Williams ’22 MD, Feinberg)
Healthcare Services:
1st Place—NO8 (Forrest Yeakley ’23 MBA)
2nd Place— Sub22 Technologies (Caleb Baltes ’22 MBA)
2023 Healthcare Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition Prize Winners
Finalists were selected by faculty to present in person at the inaugural competition. A total of $45, 000 in prize money was awarded, the winners were:
1st Place—Zuri Fertility
2nd Place— Rivermark Medical, Inc.
3rd Place—Third Coast Dynamics