Accelerating FemTech helps early-stage companies, university spinouts and academic entrepreneurs focused on women’s health gain the commercial and funding momentum they need for long-term success.

The 10 week programme supports innovators with bespoke support, targeted workshops and mentoring to enhance product development, entrepreneurship skills, and stakeholder engagement across the NHS and academia.

Participants will also be supported to prepare for a special closed call funding opportunity through Innovate UK’s Biomedical Catalyst, delivered alongside a collaborative learning programme and facilitated networking with key NHS and health sector stakeholders.

The programme is one of four pilot accelerator programmes with different areas of clinical focus being established by Innovate UK.

If your application is successful and you are selected to join Accelerating FemTech, participants will benefit from bespoke support, targeted workshops, and mentoring to enhance product development, entrepreneurship skills, and stakeholder engagement across the NHS and academia.

The programme also prepares innovators to apply for Innovate UK's Biomedical Catalyst grant funding and will help drive your innovation to make impactful change.

Accelerating FemTech began in May 2023 with the "Inspire" phase, followed by the "Accelerate" phase.

This year, Accelerating FemTech will include one phase: Accelerate. Accelerate will focus on supporting companies through an intensive 10 week programme that includes:

Face-to-face learning;

Webinars, with topics such as developing a value proposition, evidence generation, investment, regulations and user-centered design;

Tailored support from expert business coaches;

Guidance from senior mentors across the healthcare system;

Access to subject matter experts across various specialities, including regulations, intellectual property and design; and

Peer support through Action Learning Sets.

Accelerating FemTech will also prepare companies to apply to the Biomedical Catalyst, Innovate UK’s flagship grant funding mechanism which enables small and medium sized businesses to test and develop innovative health and care solutions across life sciences, including therapeutics, medical devices, and digital health.

Accelerating FemTech 2023 alumni were awarded more than £1m in funding through the Biomedical Catalyst.

The Biomedical Catalyst is run by Innovate UK and the Medical Research Council. The programme was established in 2012 and helps small to medium sized (SMEs) businesses based in the UK to test and develop innovative health and care projects.

To obtain Biomedical Catalyst funding for a project, you will need to carry out all of the project work in the UK and intend to exploit the results from or in the UK.

The Biomedical Catalyst supports ideas for:

Disease prevention and management;

Disease detection and diagnosis; and

Tailored treatments that change a disease or offer potential cures.

The Biomedical Catalyst has three key objectives:

Deliver growth to the UK life sciences sector;

Deliver innovative life sciences products and services into healthcare more quickly and effectively; and

Provide support to academically and commercially led research and development

Learn more about the Biomedical Catalyst.

The Biomedical Catalyst feasibility competition will be funded at 100 per cent under Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA) or De Minimis (for businesses from Northern Ireland). The likely award amount will be between £50,000-£100,000. Innovate UK will be checking applicants’ eligibility at the point of application to the feasibility competition. The below is the MFA criteria and feasibility competition applicants will be required to confirm the financial assistance they have received in the applicable period.

Minimum Financial Assistance requirements - Statement of allowance received: To establish your eligibility, we need to check that our potential support added to the amount you have previously received does not exceed the limit of £315,000 in the ‘applicable period’.

The applicable period is made up of: (a) the elapsed part of the current financial year, and (b) the two financial years immediately preceding the current financial year.

For applicants affected by EC De Minimis regulations, this limit must not exceed 200,000 euros. Applicants will have to confirm that they have not exceeded the MFA in the applicable period as defined above.

Please note that the Accelerating FemTech programme is also considered a subsidy and has been valued at £10,000 and this will also need to be added to the MFA/De Minimis state aid subsidy allowance.

No, Accelerating FemTech is equity-free and cost-free, utilising Innovate UK funding as part of the Biomedical Catalyst, in collaboration with the Medical Research Council. Please note that that the Programme will give benefit to the participating companies, so it is classed as a subsidy. The programme has been valued at £10,000 and will contribute as a subsidy to Minimum Financial Assistance (MFA) or De Minimis state aid. Find out more.

The 10 week programme will require you to commit to spend at least two days per week in order to benefit from the programme.

The programme will require physical attendance to some events, with dates to be confirmed.

Otherwise, during the 10 week Accelerating FemTech programme, the two days of your time each week will be primarily virtual. The formal learning, office hours sessions and action learning sets are likely to amount to a day per week. The other day will be required for preparation, mentoring sessions, meetings or implementing learning, and will be more flexible.  

Accelerating FemTech is open to small/medium-sized enterprise (SME), entrepreneurial academics and university spinouts from across the UK that are developing early-stage innovations that address current challenges in women’s health (particularly those listed in the Women’s Health Strategy for England).

Applicants should also be interested in Innovate UK's Biomedical Catalyst grant funding, which helps businesses test and develop innovative health and care projects.