Ripple Women’s Digital Health Challenge 2025
The Women’s Digital Health Challenge 2025 is an innovation programme under the Ripple initiative. Delivery partners include Cogniss, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the Health Innovation Network, which is the innovation arm of the NHS.
This Challenge aims to accelerate the development of impactful, scalable digital health solutions that address urgent priorities in women’s health, an area long under-researched, under-funded and underserved. It seeks impactful solutions that improve access to care, promote prevention and self-management and harness digital tools to deliver personalised support across key stages of women’s lives.
Ripple is now seeking partners, funders and advocates who are committed to women’s health. Whether you’re a health system, research group, NGO, clinician network or corporate sponsor, join us in amplifying this initiative and lead meaningful change.
Delivery partners
Cogniss is a no-code ecosystem that enables healthcare experts and organsations to create advanced patient-facing digital health apps. No coding or design skills required. Its unique point-and-click interface empowers health innovators to build tailored apps, at a fraction of the time and cost required by code-based development.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the trusted technology and innovation partner to the global healthcare and life sciences industry, providing unmatched reliability, security, and data privacy. AWS for Healthcare & Life Sciences provides an offering of AWS services and AWS Partner solutions used by thousands of customers globally.
Health Innovation Network (HIN) is the innovation arm of the NHS, dedicated to improving health outcomes by accelerating the adoption of proven innovations. With deep expertise in evaluation, pathways and health system integration, HIN supports innovators to pilot and scale, and embed solutions into real-world care.
Why women’s health?
For too long, women’s health has been systematically overlooked. The historic exclusion of women from clinical trials, even until the 1990s, has left lasting gaps in diagnosis, treatment and dosing. Women today remain 50% more likely than men to be misdiagnosed after a heart attack, while funding for women-specific conditions continues to lag far behind.
The impact is felt across every stage of life. Menopause and menstrual symptoms push 23% of working women to consider leaving their jobs. Between 10% and 20% of women experience postpartum depression. Adverse drug reactions affect women up to twice as often as men, a legacy of research that has historically been tested mostly on men.
Despite women’s unique biology, social roles and reproductive experiences, their health has not received equal attention. That is beginning to change as national strategies are placing women’s health on their agenda, while organisations like the WHO and the Gates Foundation are driving global progress. Ripple is proud to be part of this movement, creating pathways for digital innovation that deliver tangible change.
Should you apply?
This Challenge welcomes innovators of all backgrounds, irrespective of gender, whose expertise lies in women’s health, technology or care delivery. You may be a researcher, clinician, entrepreneur, digital health team, non-profit, or health system leader with a strong proposal for impact in women’s health.
Selected innovators will join a 12-month programme that takes ideas from concept to pilot-ready apps ready for patients. Cohort participants will:
Participate in a proven step-by-step app-build programme.
Gain 12-month access to the Cogniss no-code platform for rapid app design and build.
Receive technical, regulatory and adoption guidance from the Health Innovation Network.
Get mentorship, networking and promotional opportunities.
Two winners will also receive dedicated media coverage and tailored Health Innovation Network support to fast-track adoption and evaluation opportunities.
Challenge focus areas
Ripple Women’s Digital Health Challenge 2025 is seeking patient-centred digital solutions, i.e. tools that directly reach women and communities, addressing needs that current systems struggle to meet.
These could include solutions that support early diagnosis, educational and informational resources, self-help and preventative tools, delivery of tailored interventions, or ongoing support between appointments and during recovery or rehabilitation.
We welcome innovations addressing, but not limited to, the following areas:
Menstrual and gynaecological health
Menopause and perimenopause
Maternal and perinatal health
Gynaecological cancers
Mental health of women
Fertility and reproductive health
Pelvic health
Cardiovascular and metabolic health
Musculoskeletal and bone health
Health equity and access
We recognise that individuals who need women’s healthcare do not all identify as women or girls. Some trans men and non-binary people assigned female at birth may also require access to these services. Apps developed through this Challenge should be designed with inclusivity and sensitivity to individual needs.
Evaluation and selection process
All applications will first be reviewed for technical feasibility. Only solutions that can realistically be built within 12 months and on the Cogniss platform will progress.
Each application will then be evaluated on whether it clearly addresses women’s health priorities, the difference it could make with programme support, how it stands apart from existing solutions, and whether the applicant has the expertise, resources, and commitment to deliver a pilot-ready app.
The most promising applications will be shortlisted and invited to submit a short video pitch. This is an opportunity to clarify the idea and expand on the written application. From there, finalists will be selected and invited to Judging Day.
A cohort of participants, including two winners, will then be chosen to join the programme.
Judging panel
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![Kira Levy]()
Kira Levy
Head of Healthcare UK, Amazon Web Services (AWS)
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![Kathy Scott]()
Kathy Scott
Deputy Chief CEO, Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber
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![Jenna Lee]()
Jenna Lee
Chief Product Officer, Cogniss
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