The Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator MedTech Venture Kickstarter (MVK) is a new, intensive, structured 4-month (Nov 2025 to Feb 2026) programme delivered by LIHE on behalf of the Health Innovation Network South London (HIN) to provide MedTech ventures the confidence to proceed at pace in taking their innovation to market.
Funded by the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst, the programme is FREE for all ventures selected through a highly competitive application process. LIHE welcomes ventures commercialising a medical device to apply.
Open to ventures from across the UK, the programme aims to de-risk and accelerate the commercial readiness of your medical device. We achieve this by stress-testing and robustly validating your venture’s commercialisation roadmap, giving you the best chance of success in positively impacting patients.
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- For registered companies only
- Technologies should be at minimum proof of concept stage (TRL ≥4) with initial evidence
- Cross-functional leadership team in place with complementary skills, clinical lead as part of the team is advisable
- Shareholding agreed between founders
- Commitment expected: Min of 1 day a week in-person at LIHE (London) for the duration of the programme (Nov 2025 to Feb 2026)
Important note: all sessions are delivered in person at LIHE in London. At least one member of your team must be present in person at each session.
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The MedTech Venture Kickstarter invites applications from:
- UK-based registered companies commercialising a medical device as defined under the UK (Directive 93/42/EEC on medical devices) and EU (Medical Devices Regulation (EU) 2017/745) regulatory framework(s)
- Early market validation e.g. clinical partnership, current pilot, letters of intent (LOIs)
- Institutional or non-institutional intellectual property acceptable
- Agnostic on funding stage, but with enough runway to complete the programme
- Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) companies are strongly recommended to apply
- Companies with innovations in the following focus areas are explicitly invited to apply: Cancer; Regulated Women’s Health; Surgery.
Important note: In-vitro diagnostics and unregulated digital health technologies are not eligible.
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Successful ventures will become embedded into the LIHE ecosystem, participating in weekly activities including masterclasses, workshops, and bespoke guidance from in-house translation experts in regulatory and quality management, health technology assessment, clinical translation and more. Each venture will be matched with a dedicated Expert-In-Residence (EiR), who will act as a strategic navigator with MedTech expertise, supporting your venture.
Important note: Ventures completing the programme will be eligible to apply for a closed feasibility grant competition by Innovate UK.
Access to the LIHE Ecosystem
- All ventures joining the programme will be permitted for up to 2 team members to use the desk space, 1-day per week at the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering for the duration of the programme.
- Join a number of industry-specific, in-person events
- Engage with funding opportunities
- Connect with key stakeholders
Workshops
- Attend weekly in-person masterclasses and workshops at LIHE
- Expert delivered content covers Quality & Regulation, Intellectual Property, Health Technology Assessment, Clinical Adoption & Reimbursement, International Strategy, Fundraising and more
- Interactive sessions complemented by topic-based tasks, ensuring you actively apply what you learn
Expert Guidance
- Connect to an Expert-in-Residence with deep MedTech expertise
- Obtain hands-on strategic milestone development and 1-2-1 translation support from LIHE teams
- Validate your commercial plan with guidance from Experts in Residence and the LIHE team
Health Technology Assessment Support
- Access to a specialist Health Technology Assessment (HTA) platform
- Conduct a gap analysis for the NHS
- Receive a personalised report for evidence generation plan
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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 more details on this accelerator, join LIHE’s drop-in session on Monday 22 September, 1-2pm.
For support with your application please read the application support document.
Any questions related to the programme or application process please direct to lihe.translation@kcl.ac.uk.
