MATTER launches new funding opportunities for entrepreneurs

These three programs, part of the Paratus Digital Health Accelerator, will help U.S. public health preparedness.

October 15, 2025, CHICAGO, IL — MATTER, the premier healthcare incubator and innovation hub, today announced the launch of three new initiatives under the Paratus Digital Health Accelerator-BARDA Accelerator Network Hub for Digital Health, expanding opportunities for startups developing digital health solutions that enhance preparedness and response to health security threats.

The initiatives include:

  • Accelerator Program — A 10-week accelerator for startups developing digital health medical countermeasures.
  • Non-dilutive Funding for Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Assessment Solutions — Awards ranging from $500,000 to $2,000,000 to support digital health tools that improve diagnosis and triage of suspected traumatic brain injuries as medical consequences of nuclear detonation and related blast events.
  • Non-dilutive Funding for Wearable Biosensors — Milestone-based funding awards up to $200,000 to support the development, evaluation and validation of wearable biosensing technologies that detect and monitor diseases such as influenza, other infectious diseases and CBRN threats.

Together, these programs will accelerate the development, evaluation and validation of digital medical countermeasures aligned with the Center for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority’s (BARDA) mission to advance preparedness and response against CBRN health security threats.

“Our partnership with BARDA continues to create unique pathways to validate groundbreaking solutions — from at-home diagnostics and wearable biosensors to digital tools for traumatic brain injury triage,” said Steven Collens, CEO of MATTER. “With up to $2 million per company and extensive mentoring and product validation opportunities, our new initiatives will help the United States develop the tools we need to better respond to public health emergencies.”

All applications are open October 15. You can read more about the three initiatives below:

Accelerator Program: Advancing digital medical countermeasures

This accelerator program will focus on digital health solutions that address public health emergencies caused by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats, pandemic influenza and emerging infectious diseases. Areas of interest include rapidly deployable digital health technologies that enable timely screening, detection, diagnosis and risk assessment of health security threats — including influenza and pandemic influenza, CBRN threats and other emerging infectious diseases; AI algorithms that advance medical countermeasure development through drug design, repurposing and clinical trial optimization; novel analytic approaches that combine AI/ML with diverse digital data sources such as images, audio, sensors and wearable devices; and wearable IoT that enable continuous, real-time monitoring for early disease detection and prediction.

This 10-week program will run from January 19 to March 27, 2026, and will culminate in a virtual showcase. Applications are open from October 15 to December 3, 2025.

Non-dilutive Funding for Wearable Biosensors

This program provides milestone-based, non-dilutive funding awards of up to $200,000 for short-term, proof-of-concept projects for the development, evaluation, and validation of innovative wearable biosensing technologies that detect, triage or monitor infectious diseases. Companies will also gain access to study-site matching, mentorship and project management support to accelerate their next development milestones.

Preliminary applications open October 15, 2025, and close January 15, 2026, with awards beginning in June 2026.

Non-dilutive Funding for TBI Assessment Solutions

This program supports the development of mobile digital health solutions that inform triage and aid in the rapid identification of acute TBI requiring escalation of care. Projects funded between $500,000 and $2,000,000 will span up to 12 to 24 months and focus on software prototype and a rigorous clinical demonstration in collaboration with health system partners.

Applications open October 15, 2025, with preliminary submissions due by January 15, 2026. The first round of awards will be announced in June 2026.

This project has been supported in whole or in part with federal funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response; Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), under agreement number 75A50124C00028.