How to win the Longitude Prize on Dementia

The Longitude Prize on Dementia is a £4.42 million prize programme incentivising the next generation of assistive technologies for people living with dementia. The prize is launched in partnership by Alzheimer’s Society and Innovate UK, and delivered by Challenge Works,

The prize invites global innovators to develop technologies that learn about the lives and routines of people living with early-stage dementia, employing AI and other advanced technology to develop a solution that can adapt as their condition progresses. Entries for the first round of grants will be open from 26 September 2022 to 26 January 2023 at 1200 GMT. 24 seed grants/Discovery Awards of £80,000 each will be awarded in the first phase.

These initial 24 teams will compete to go on to the Finalist Award stage, in which five innovator teams will win £300,000 each. The judging decisions for the Finalist Awards will be announced in the summer of 2024. Finally, these five finalists will compete for a £1 million grand prize that will be awarded early 2026.

Winners will have created a new generation of assistive technologies, supporting people to remain independent in their own homes for as long as possible..

The prize has been co-created with people living with dementia and people caring for people with dementia, who will also be involved in advising the prize as it selects its Discovery Award Winners, finalists and Grand Prize winner.

More detail on competing in this prize

In May 2023, 24 finalists will be awarded £80,000 Discovery Awards to spend 12-months developing their solutions – they will also receive non-financial capacity building support. This includes facilitating whatever they need to bring their ideas to life – for instance, access to data, collaborations with people living with dementia in the UK, Canada and the US, advice on product design, user experience and business mentoring. 

In August 2024, 5 finalists will be awarded £300,000 grants to spend 15 months turning their ideas into real-world products ahead of judging in November 2025. These teams will access technical advice and support to assess their products.

In early 2026, a winner will be announced and will be awarded £1 million. This Grand Prize will be awarded to a solution that has transformative impact on the lives of people living with dementia. It will be designed to be used directly by people who have dementia, empowering them to remain independent and continue doing the things they love. It will also have a transformative impact on the wider development of assistive technology, paving the way for a new approach to co-designing technology with people living with dementia and other cognitive conditions, and creating a genuinely ethical approach to data that takes into account their needs and desires.

Eligibility to enter

Anyone can apply to the prize provided they meet the following criteria:

• The prize is open to individuals and academic groups, companies or non-profits, as well as partnerships between these.
• The prize is open to innovators worldwide but entries must be in English.
• Applicants must commit to co-designing their solutions with people affected by dementia.
• Applicants must commit to maintaining a high standard of data ethics.

Winning Criteria

Winners will be selected based on their entry meeting the following criteria:

• Breakthrough innovation that helps people live independently for longer, demonstrating significant advances in technology or the use of technology, and design for people affected by dementia. 
• Adapting to user needs to deliver tailored support, contributing to wellbeing and quality of life, learning from and adapting to the individual and changing needs of a person with dementia, compensating for their condition as it progresses.
• High standards of technical excellence, demonstrating a strong evidence base of the suitability and reliability of the technologies underlying the solution. Where appropriate, the solution provides open data, interoperability and/or application programming interfaces (APIs), as well as compatibility with different hardware, to help integrate it with other tools and services that users and their carers may use and mitigate against obsolescence.
• Credible path to sustainability and scale, demonstrating a clear route to market (in their chosen market), with consideration given to how their entry will be scaled and made financially accessible to a broad cross-section of people living with dementia, whatever their circumstances. The team should have the capabilities, skills and experience required to deliver the proposed technology, service and business model.

For full details about the prize and the judging criteria, read the innovator handbook here.

To apply for a Discovery Grant and enter the Longitude Prize for Dementia, see our how to apply page. Entries close on 26 January 2023 at 1200 GMT.