Biomedical Catalyst: AI in Health Accelerator Programme

Key Features

Accelerator course and access to funding for startups and early-stage businesses using AI to solve complex, unmet healthcare problems.

Programme:     Innovate UK

Award:     Share of up to £100,000

Opens: 11th Sep 2024

Closes: 7th Oct 2024

! This scheme is now closed

Overview

AI in health is a rapidly growing field, with evolving regulatory and ethical considerations. This programme, funded by Innovate UK, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council, as part of the Biomedical Catalyst, can help aspiring and early-stage entrepreneurs bring their AI innovations to healthcare markets through expert commercial support and access to grant funding.

Innovate UK define AI in health as the application of novel AI technology to best solve an unmet need in one of four broad categories of health – clinical healthcare, pre-clinical healthcare, health services management and public health.

You’ll have access to:

  • Introduction and application of proven tools, delivered by experts with experience supporting academic spinouts and commercial ventures
  • Workshops to de-risk the commercial and technical viability of their projects
  • Dedicated 1-1 coaching from a life sciences commercialisation expert
  • Access to 250+ key life sciences, pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals in our expert network
  • Talks from AI health founders, investors, grant funding specialists, product development experts and IP lawyers
  • Up to £7,500 for customer discovery and digital testing
  • Access to closed grant funding competition from Innovate UK up to £100k
  • Equity investment upon programme completion for top performers

The Accelerator Programme is equity-free and cost-free.

Eligibility

To be eligible, applicants must meet the following criteria:

  • Be a UK-based SME, according to Innovate UK definitions, or an academic/researcher in the early stages of forming an SME (you must have plans to spin out)
  • Be developing an innovative project or process in the AI in Health space
  • Be interested in grant funding to support exploring your technology’s commercial viability and product development

Accelerator course dates and commitments

Pioneer Group will be delivering separate Pre-Accelerator Workshops for each stream of project. One for projects that have already founded a start-up and one for projects still in the academic phase. The Pre-Accelerator for the academic stream will be delivered 29 Oct – 1 Nov, and the start-up stream will be delivered 5 – 9 Nov.

Innovate UK will need you to take four days for the Pre-Accelerator Workshop, and the Accelerator Programme (running 15 Jan – 5 Mar 2025) requires half a day of your time, once a week for 8 weeks. Some of these sessions will be delivered in person in London and will be mandatory to attend. The 1-1 sessions with your coaches and additional work can be done at a time to suit you.

Places and funding available

A maximum of 40 projects will be selected for the pre-accelerator programme, with 20 of those chosen for the full programme.

Accelerator course, workshops, coaching and more; up to £7,500 for customer discovery and digital testing; successful accelerator projects will be able to apply for up to £100k in closed-funding grants.

Interested in applying for this competition?

Book an appointment to speak to one of our advisors to discuss your eligibility to apply for this Grant Funding opportunity.