Durrant Pate/ Contributor

IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group has decided to invest US$750,000 in Novamed’s first health innovation accelerator and incubator in the Caribbean region.

IDB Lab drive is to support the Jamaican company to build its Catalyst Health Innovation accelerator and incubator. Novamed was established in 2018 to make healthcare better, more affordable, and more accessible in emerging markets through collaboration, creative problem-solving, and capital.

Their innovation arm pilots health innovations in Jamaica and other countries on a project-by-project basis. This project will benefit from financial counterpart support and technical training offered by other partners such as the Development Bank of Jamaica.

Use of IDB grant funding

Through the grant, IDB Lab and Novamed will support, catalyse, and accelerate innovation in health and the development of an ecosystem to support and grow new or improved health solutions in the Caribbean region. This will be done by building out and delivering specialised knowledge, connections, organizational capacity, and partnerships needed to support innovators in this area.

The funds will be used to pilot several projects, develop regional integration and cooperation to strengthen a regional health innovation ecosystem, knowledge exchange missions with other innovation labs, pitch competitions offering micro-grants. This is in addition to capacity building for start-ups, and the building of a health innovation community.

Commenting on its investment in Novamed, CEO of IDB Lab Irene Arias explained: “IDB Lab is catalysing more investments in the Caribbean region addressing needing sectors, such as health, and supporting nascent ecosystems that foster not only interactions between internal and external actors but promote growth and innovation.”

Novamed’s founder and managing partner, David Walcott, said: “This collaboration with IDB Lab marks a significant milestone in our mission to revolutionize healthcare innovation in the Caribbean. IDB Lab’s investment in Catalyst, our pioneering health innovation accelerator will foster a dynamic ecosystem of innovation that enhances healthcare delivery, affordability, and accessibility, ultimately improving the lives of people in Jamaica and across the Caribbean.”

Novamed’s Catalyst

The solutions incubated through Catalyst will tackle four challenges that were identified as the most important and persistent in Jamaica and in the Caribbean region:

· Non-Communicable Diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.

· Process innovation, which is vital to address resource constraints, improve access to care, and enhance healthcare delivery efficiency.

· Mental health given high rates, stigma, and limited access to these services and

· Communicable diseases such as dengue fever and Zika virus, which intersect with climate changes for which the region has particular vulnerability.

Health innovation is crucial to overcoming healthcare challenges in the Caribbean and improving access to quality care, creating opportunities to accelerate positive impact. Novamed’s focus on private sector-led healthcare innovation aims to improve the quality and affordability of care, which can benefit on a greater scale vulnerable populations and public agencies delivering care through public-private partnerships.