WASHINGTON, DC, United States (CMC) — IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, Monday said it will invest US$750,000 to support Jamaican company Novamed in building Catalyst, the first health innovation accelerator and incubator in the Caribbean region.

IDB said health innovation is crucial to overcoming health-care challenges in the Caribbean and improving access to quality care, creating opportunities to accelerate positive impact.

It said Novamed’s focus on private sector-led health-care 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.

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 by building out and delivering specialised knowledge, connections, organisational capacity, and partnerships needed to support innovators in this area.

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

“IDB Lab is catalysing more investments in the Caribbean region addressing sectors such as health, and supporting nascent ecosystems that foster not only interactions between internal and external actors but promote growth and innovation,” said Irene Arias, chief executive officer of IDB Lab.

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, namely noncommunicable diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity; process innovation, which is vital to address resource constraints, improve access to care, and enhance health-care delivery efficiency. The solutions will also address mental health, given its high rates, stigma, and limited access to these services; and communicable diseases such as dengue fever and Zika virus, which intersect with climate changes and for which the region has particular vulnerability.

“This collaboration with IDB Lab marks a significant milestone in our mission to revolutionise health-care innovation in the Caribbean,” said David Walcott, founder and managing partner of Novamed.

“IDB Lab’s investment in Catalyst, our pioneering health innovation accelerator, will foster a dynamic ecosystem of innovation that enhances health-care delivery, affordability, and accessibility, ultimately improving the lives of people in Jamaica and across the Caribbean,” Walcott added.

IDB said that the project will benefit from financial counterpart support and technical training offered by other partners such as Development Bank of Jamaica.