Innovate UK, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), is seeking expressions of interest to establish an approved provider pool to support delivery of the Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator Programme. You may be invited to apply for wider health and life sciences accelerator programmes.
The aim of this competition is to identify experienced providers with a proven track record of designing and delivering end to end accelerator programmes for innovative UK registered, micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The programmes need to be aligned to Biomedical Catalyst or wider health and life sciences accelerator themes. Providers may be called upon over a period of up to three years to support programme delivery, subject to specific themes and requirements.
Your application must demonstrate evidence of delivery of previous high quality, structured accelerator programmes and outcomes.
This competition is split into two strands for:
• providers of early stage accelerators (this strand)
• providers of late stage accelerators
Early stage accelerator strand
Applicants must demonstrate experience of delivering programmes supporting early stage innovative human health SMEs; including ideation, business model development, customer discovery and early commercial validation.
Late stage accelerator strand
Applicants must demonstrate experience of delivering programmes supporting late stage innovative human health SMEs; including scale-up, investment readiness, regulatory strategy, market access or commercial growth.
You may apply for one or both strands of the competition, but each application must:
- be tailored to the type of accelerator outlined above
- demonstrate relevant experience aligned to the strand you apply for
It is your responsibility to ensure you submit your application to the correct strand for your project. You will not be able to transfer your application and it will not be sent for assessment if it is out of scope.
Our experience from similar competitions suggests that you could have 20% chance of success.
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This competition is open to single applicants only.
Your organisation must be a UK registered business of any size, an academic institution, a not for profit, charity, research and technology organisation (RTO) or a public sector organisation.
You must not act in any way to gain selective commercial or economic advantage from the outputs of this project.
A business of any size, academic institution, research and technology organisation (RTO), charity, not for profit or public sector organisation can only lead on one application per strand, but may apply for both strands with tailored applications.
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Your application must:
- be from a single organisation: consortia are not permitted
- be able to deliver a Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator Programme if selected by Innovate UK
- operate at arm’s length from Innovate UK and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) in the delivery of accelerators and innovation programmes
- demonstrate a proven track record of designing and delivering an end to end, structured accelerator programme for innovative micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)
- provide evidence of previous end to end programme delivery, including scale, duration and measurable outcomes
- have the capacity and capability to deliver support services when called upon over the lifetime of the approved provider pool
- carry out delivery activities primarily in the UK
- intend to support UK registered innovative SMEs
Applications that do not meet all eligibility criteria will be rejected and will not be sent for assessment.
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The aim of this competition is to identify experienced providers with a proven track record of designing and delivering end to end accelerator programmes for innovative UK registered, micro, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The programmes need to be aligned to Biomedical Catalyst or wider health and life sciences accelerator themes.
Support must be tailored to the needs of SMEs working across a wide range of biomedical and healthcare R&D themes. We expect future accelerators to support 10-15 participants per programme with total costs up to £500,000.
Your application must clearly set out how you will deliver structured, high quality accelerator programmes to innovative SMEs, when called upon, in line with the requirements of the Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator Programme.
Your application must describe:
- the accelerator you will deliver, aligned to the strand you are applying for
- your approach to programme design and delivery, including format, intensity and duration
- how you will ensure high quality delivery, including governance, quality assurance and continuous improvement
- how you will monitor, evaluate and report delivery outputs and outcomes to Innovate UK
You must also describe how your support will be tailored to the specific R&D focus of the SMEs , including but not limited to:
- advanced therapies (cell, gene, RNA, regenerative)
- biosciences and platform technologies
- preclinical tools, target discovery and validation
- therapeutics and medicine development, including AMR and infectious disease
- diagnostics and biomarkers, including AMR and infectious disease
- medical technologies, devices and robotics
- precision and personalised medicine
- digital and data-driven health
- healthy ageing and independent living
Your application must demonstrate how delivery can be mobilised efficiently when called upon and how you will work collaboratively with Innovate UK and other delivery partners, where required.
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We are not funding projects:
- with providers who do not have a proven track record of delivering structured accelerator programmes for innovative SMEs
- with providers who do not have evidence of measurable impact from their previous accelerator programmes
- whose support is not tailored to biomedical and healthcare R&D focused SMEs
- include delivery that would result in double funding from Innovate UK or UKRI
- be submitted by organisations whose core funding is provided directly by Innovate UK or UKRI for the provision of similar business support or innovation delivery activities
- which are classed as State aid under the Windsor Framework or a subsidy under the Subsidy Control Act 2022
- with undertakings which gain a selective economic or commercial advantage from the funding
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Innovate UK will hold an online briefing at 11am on Friday 6 February, covering both strands: click here to register for a place. A recording and slides will be available afterwards.
For further enquiries, contact Innovate UK or the Biomedical Catalyst team.
Innovate UK's application and funding process
If you need more information about how to apply, please read our funding support pages. For additional support, reach out to our team of innovation experts who are ready to help you navigate the application process and maximise your chances of success.
For more information
Accessibility and Inclusion
Innovate UK welcome and encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and are committed to making our application process accessible to everyone. This includes making reasonable adjustments, for people who have a disability or a long-term condition and face barriers applying to us.