To be eligible, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Be a UK-based SME, according to Innovate UK definitions, or an academic/researcher who will form an SME prior to the Programme end. You should be in the initial phases of development (often Technology Readiness Level 2–4), with a prototype or minimum viable product, limited commercial traction, and usually pre-revenue or in the early stages of generating revenue. You will likely be focused on product development, market validation, building their core team, and securing initial investment to support growth and scale
• Be developing an innovative project, product or service that addresses a chronic condition
• Be interested in grant funding to support exploring your technology’s commercial viability and product development

Companies of interest will be targeting unmet needs in disease prevention or proactive management of chronic conditions. Companies may be targeting a single condition or multiple long-term conditions (MLTC).

The solution could be applied within a broad range of conditions and support at any disease stage: disease prevention, early detection and diagnosis, proactive management of chronic condition, and supportive and long term care.

Categories are:

• Therapeutics and disease-modifying interventions
• Digital health/virtual care delivery
• Patient engagement and self-management tools

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
• 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 founders, investors, grant funding specialists, product development experts and IP lawyers
• A stipend for customer discovery and testing
• Access to a closed grant funding competition from Innovate UK
• Equity investment upon Programme completion for top performers

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

We will need you to take four days for the Pre-Accelerator Workshop, and the Accelerator Programme 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.

Pre-Accelerator Workshop: 28th – 31st Oct or 4th – 7th Nov

You’ll be introduced to proven entrepreneurial methods that de-risk the commercial viability of life sciences start-ups. Then, you’ll use the tools and techniques to undertake rigorous customer discovery, testing key assumptions about your idea and value proposition.

Accelerator: 14th January – 4th March

Work 1-1 with a dedicated coach and attend weekly sessions to develop your idea into a minimum viable product. You’ll meet esteemed figures from the life sciences industry with expertise in managing chronic conditions, to offer advice and guidance on investment, market adoption and scale-up.

Investor Showcase: Pre-seed to series A

You’ll receive an invitation to Pioneer Group Alumni and Investment Showcase events to meet 40+ leading life sciences investors in the UK and start-ups in the wider Pioneer Group ecosystem.

Grant Funding: Closed Competition

You’ll receive exclusive access to a closed grant funding competition for developing your product, process or service to address chronic conditions. This will be funded by Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council.

Innovate UK held an informative webinar introducing the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerators programme on 3 Sept: click here to watch the recording and download the slides.

The Biomedical Catalyst team will also be holding live events in London 9 September, Liverpool 11 September and Glasgow 15 September: click here to find out more and register for a place.

For queries about each specific accelerator, contact the team who are running it. You can also contact the Biomedical Catalyst team.