Healthcare start-ups encouraged to apply for £35K support package facilitated by Herts
Small and medium sized firms innovating within the healthcare technology sector are being invited to access up to £35,000 of expert commercial, technical and academic support to scale or get their projects to market, following the launch of a new life sciences programme.
Applications have opened for the ‘Healthcare Technologies Capability Connector’ (HTCC) Accelerator, a life sciences partnership led by the University of Hertfordshire in collaboration with Imperial College London and Cranfield University.
The acceleration support will be provided during a nine-month period and can benefit up to 15 companies. It will support healthcare technology firms with the development of products, services or technologies, including prototyping and testing support, as well as commercial support such as the exploration of appropriate routes to market and intellectual property commercialisation support.
Access to the Acceleration programme is competitive and to be eligible, applicants must demonstrate that their projects have potential to scale-up and would make a positive societal impact in the healthcare sector, and their product or service needs to be at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 3 or above.
The HTCC programme is aimed at strategically linking-up London-based entrepreneurs and innovation hubs, including the London MedTech cluster around White City, with Hertfordshire’s burgeoning life science sector and Bedfordshire’s scale up infrastructure, including Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst and Cranfield’s Industrial Technology Park. The aim is to foster manufacturing and scaling of high growth potential businesses.
HTCC was officially launched at an industry event at the University of Hertfordshire earlier today (Wednesday, 7 February), with interested SMEs encouraged to register their interest as soon as possible ahead of the recruitment and selection process, taking place towards this end of this month and throughout March.
Professor Wendy Wills, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise at the University of Hertfordshire, said:
“A major part of the University of Hertfordshire’s focus is on real-world solutions - connecting academia with industry to create a significant impact on people’s lives. This innovative programme aims to attract people with the trailblazing spirit that can transform healthcare and change our lives for the better. It also builds on our powerful track record of working with industry to bring about this kind of change. Firms who have a service or product that needs an extra boost to realise its potential now have exactly that support they need at their fingertips.”
In October last year the life sciences partnership was awarded just under £1.5m by Research England’s Connecting Capability Fund (CCF) to drive the development of innovative healthcare technologies across the region and beyond. Previous healthcare innovations that University of Hertfordshire has pioneered include a robotic glove that can be used to help patients recovering from strokes.
To find out more about HTCC or apply to their Accelerator programme, please visit the HTCC information page online, or register your interest by emailing be@herts.ac.uk.