Kainos and Innovate UK drive innovation through collaboration with start-ups
Kainos, the Belfast-headquartered technology company, is partnering with Innovate UK to drive innovation through collaboration with start-ups.
The two organisations have a history of exploring innovative ideas and services together, and their partnership with the DigiHealth Lean Launch Programme is a natural extension of this relationship.
The Kainos DigiHealth Lean Launch Programme is a game-changing 10-week initiative that helps innovators explore their ideas. The programme provides funding and guidance on everything a start-up needs to explore an idea or opportunity, including conducting market research, building a business model, and pitching ideas to investors. The programme was open to all teams with a Digital Health Innovation idea from across the UK and Ireland, with the first cohort of 12 teams recruited in September 2022. The selected projects ranged from innovations in health monitoring, symptom management, and well-being.
Throughout the process, participants received the support of the Innovation Services team at Kainos, who supported them in every aspect of the process. Alison Coote, Head of Product and Entrepreneurial Lead at Kainos, said, “Kainos has grown from a micro-business to a 3000-person global organisation, so we recognise the challenges in turning ideas into successful products and services. We are delighted to share our views and provide advice and support to start-ups, helping them make informed decisions.”
The Lean Launch Programme is part of a broader programme pathway for Innovate UK aimed at commercialising research for University Teams and Public Sector Research Enterprises (PSREs). The “Innovation-to-Commercialisation of University Research” (ICURe) programme is the UK’s leading early-stage research accelerator programme. It guides academic researchers through the process of refining and validating the commercial potential for some of the world’s leading-edge science, technology, and knowledge assets. Since 2013, the programme has helped create over 150 new companies by supporting more than 1,650 participants to explore the commercial potential of their research.
Emma Burke, Innovation Lead for Commercialisation at Innovate UK, commented, “Being able to provide the support and guidance of Kainos, and its staff, to early-stage academic ventures in ICURe will undoubtedly improve the success of these teams in addressing real-world challenges.”
The Kainos DigiHealth Lean Launch Programme is a great example of how collaboration between established companies and start-ups can drive innovation and create value. By providing support and guidance to start-ups, Kainos and Innovate UK are helping to turn innovative ideas into successful products and services that can make a real difference in people’s lives.
About the Lean Launch Programme
The Lean Launch Programme is part of a wider programme pathway for Innovate UK aimed at commercialising research for University Teams and Public Sector Research Enterprises (PSREs). “Innovation-to-Commercialisation of University Research” (ICURe) is the UK leading early-stage research accelerator programme. It guides academic researchers through the process of refining and validating the commercial potential for some of the world’s leading-edge science, technology, and knowledge assets. The programme has been funded by Innovate UK and since 2014 has helped create almost 200 new companies by supporting more than 2000 participants explore the commercial potential of their research.