Up to $50,000 Biosecurity Innovation Challenge
- Organization: BioPREVAIL
- Type: Competition
- Location: Global
- Deadline: October 31, 2026
- Funding: Fully Funded
BioPREVAIL, a laboratory biosecurity initiative of the Geneva-based Global Health Security Fund, is running this call with CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations. It is looking for practical tools, systems, training approaches and studies that keep labs and vaccine work safe and secure under CEPI's 100 Days Mission, the goal of having a vaccine ready within 100 days of a new pandemic threat. At least three teams join a six-month accelerator with up to US$50,000 each, and present their work in Geneva alongside the World Health Assembly in May 2027. **What you get:** - Up to US$50,000 in non-dilutive seed funding per team, released once BioPREVAIL approves your project narrative, budget and budget narrative - No equity taken: your team keeps full ownership of its intellectual property, following CEPI's open access principles where they apply - A dedicated lead mentor for the whole programme, plus experts in biocontainment, biosafety, regulatory affairs, fabrication, intellectual property and commercialisation - The BioPREVAIL Academy: working sessions on customer discovery, user-centred design, intellectual property and regulation, fundraising, communications and pitching - Bi-weekly office hours and milestone reviews with the BioPREVAIL team - A graduate student associate from The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy - Warm introductions to funders, investors and procurement channels across the Global Health Security Fund, CEPI and partner networks - A place on stage at the Innovation Showcase in Geneva, 24 to 27 May 2027, on the margins of the World Health Assembly, with travel and accommodation provided - A formal biosecurity review of your work that you can show to regulators, buyers and funders **What you'll do:** - Send a short online expression of interest (ten questions) and a pitch deck in PDF, about two hours of work - If shortlisted, add a short technical annex, a budget and any partner letters, then pitch live online to an independent panel: a ten-minute pitch and twenty minutes of questions - If selected, spend six months from 1 December 2026 building your solution with BioPREVAIL towards a result you name for month six - Present the result at the Innovation Showcase in Geneva in May 2027 **Key dates:** - Call published 29 September 2026 - Rolling evaluation and shortlisting 12 October to 3 November 2026 - Applications close 31 October 2026 at 11:59 p.m. CET - Interviews in the week of 9 November 2026 - Teams notified 16 November 2026, and must accept by 23 November 2026 - Incubation begins 1 December 2026; BioPREVAIL Academy sessions begin 5 January 2027 - Pitching bootcamp in the week of 3 May 2027 - Innovation Showcase in Geneva, 24 to 27 May 2027 **More information:** - Six guiding areas: sharing data instead of samples; chain of custody and tamper evidence; diversion, misuse and insider threats, including misuse of AI tools; confirming and attributing an outbreak signal in low-resource settings; turning compliance findings into action and lasting funding; and safeguards where digital instructions become physical biological work - Applicability in low- and middle-income settings is the most heavily weighted consideration, alongside biosecurity impact - Provisional scoring weights: biosecurity impact 25%, applicability under constraint 25%, feasibility 20%, sustainability and value 15%, team 15% - Full scope, examples and eligibility gates are in the Call for Applications: https://bioprevail.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/BioPREVAILxCEPI-Call-for-Applications.pdf
