Start-ups across Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong are being given a new opportunity to receive funding and support from Bupa to help develop innovative solutions that create healthier and more sustainable societies in addition to breaking down barriers to accessing quality healthcare. 

The 2024 eco-disruptive program provides select start-ups with £25,000 (or local currency equivalent) in initial funding as well as the opportunity to receive £200,000 (or local currency equivalent) if they win Bupa’s global eco-disruptive competition. 

Roger Sharp, Chief Sustainability & Corporate Affairs Officer, Bupa Asia Pacific said the eco-disruptive program has a track record of success since starting in 2021 supporting 18 environmentally focused start-ups across Asia Pacific such as Airspeed, Cassava Bags Australia and Clearbot. 

“This year we feel the time is right for a wider focus, to a program that not only brings opportunities for innovation and sustainability but also engages start-ups that are focused on creating healthy societies through the themes of inclusive health, supporting disability and illness prevention.” 

“By focusing on these areas, we can help improve people’s access to healthcare, when they need it,” said Sharp.  

“By doing so we can also help prevent the need for more significant health care in the future which in turn reduces the impact of the health sector on the environment.” 

The eco-disruptive program builds on Bupa’s strategy of building a stronger relationship with the start-up community across the Asia Pacific, having recently launched Bupa Ventures to support the early funding rounds of select start-ups working across predictive and preventative healthcare, genomics, home care and remote monitoring. 

“Working with start-ups, and embracing new ways of thinking, are an important part of Bupa’s strategy because the health challenges facing our communities are vast, and complicated and require us to innovate and move at speed.” 

“We are really excited to see what our teams and start-ups are able to develop and bring to market!” said Sharp. 

Bupa’s 2024 eco-disruptive program is now open for expressions of interest from start-ups across Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong with applications closing on 2 September.