Innovator
Support
Transforming care through
digital adoption
Overview
The Innovator Support service collaborates with NHS leaders, commissioners, clinicians, academics and patient representatives to identify and accelerate high-potential innovations to address priority challenges across health and social care.
We work with digital health companies across London, the UK and internationally to enhance expertise, connections and credibility, driving economic growth, operational efficiencies and real improvements for patients.
Areas of expertise
- Innovation Clinics and signposting
We meet one-to-one with companies at any stage of their innovation journey that are developing products or exploring opportunities in our region. Our NHS Navigators review products and identify where they sit in the health and care sector. They act as critical friends to provide tailored guidance, signposting support or funding pots through our national network. - Horizon Scans and demand signalling
We collaborate with the NHS to identify need and communicate regional priorities to innovators and industry, providing support to innovators to meet these needs. We also work with our Digital Transformation and Technology team to conduct horizon scans and other innovation landscape reviews.
- Adoption and spread of innovations across the system
we establish strategic partnerships across health and social care, collaborating to identify priority healthcare challenges and deliver national programmes to support the uptake of effective technologies. From tailored business support to enhancing connections, our programmes facilitate the discovery, development and deployment of evidence-based innovations for health and social care. - Validation in real-world settings
We work closely with the HIN’s Insights service to collect real-world evidence and evaluate the impact of innovations using a range of methodologies. - Innovation Exchange
We provide a platform to promote and celebrate breakthroughs in the innovation ecosystem, from case studies to in-person networking events, as well as showcase opportunities through national partnerships.
Accelerating FemTech 2023-2026
£1 million +
Innovate UK Biomedical Catalysis funding awarded to 25 innovators across two cohorts
99%
of participants agreed expert guidance will help business development
98%
of participants would repeat the programme
Excellent
NPS category, with average score of 73
“For me, the programme was incredibly impactful – not only from a business learning perspective but also in how it shifted the narrative… It gave me a profound sense of belonging and strengthened my confidence to stand tall as a female founder. I genuinely believe this programme should go global.”
Accelerating FemTech participant
The challenge
In the UK, women consistently spend more of their lives in ill health or disability compared to men, and the life expectancy for women ranges from less than two years to 12 years or more than men across the country.
The solution
Accelerating FemTech, which is funded by the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst, recognises the potential of innovation to help address current challenges in women’s health and other conditions that affect women differently or disproportionally.
It is designed to identify high-potential products and help to drive the commercial and funding momentum needed for long-term success.
The 10 week programme is delivered by the Health Innovation Network South London
(HIN) with DigitalHealth.London and national partners. It leads with a collaborative
approach to ensure participants directly benefit from expertise, connections and markets
from across its national network, providing long-term benefits for women’s health across
the country.
Three cohorts ran from September 2023 to March 2026. The first two cohorts backed 33 early-stage solutions, from menopause tools to maternity workforce training.
The latest iteration of the programme, Accelerating FemTech: Evaluate, supported 10 later-stage solutions at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4+, focusing on building strategic partnerships and refining evaluation pathways, such as health economic analyses.
Mindset-XR Innovation Support Programme 2024-2027
£2.1 million
follow-on funding received
63
jobs created
~30
pilot sites and full contracts secured
3
projects achieved MHRA Class I certification, with several others progressing toward Class I or Class II
“These projects are shining examples of how innovation can transform people’s quality of life, by helping those with severe mental health conditions take on everyday tasks that can otherwise feel impossible.”
Lord Patrick Vallance
Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation
The challenge
Across the UK, demand for mental health support significantly exceeds available capacity. One in six adults live with a common mental health condition, yet many struggle to access timely care. Over 60% of children and young people with diagnosable needs receive no NHS support, and two‑thirds of people who die by suicide have had no recent contact with mental health services.
Inequalities linked to deprivation, ethnicity, culture, neurodiversity, age, gender, and physical health further limit access, while workforce shortages, long waits, and affordability pressures exacerbate the strain.
The solution
Innovate UK’s £20 million Mindset‑XR programme is accelerating the development of immersive digital mental health tools by funding UK-wide projects that create new therapeutic interventions.
These projects receive additional support through the Mindset‑XR Innovation Support Programme, led by the Health Innovation Network South London and its delivery partners, to help them progress to market.
The Mindset‑XR Innovation Support Programme aims to speed up access to effective, engaging and accessible treatment.
Seventy four projects were funded across three strands, each supporting people experiencing a wide range of mental health challenges using immersive technologies.
These conditions include anxiety disorders; neurodevelopmental conditions such as ADHD, trauma-related issues including PTSD, stress (including workplace and debt-related stress), severe mental illness, addiction, cognitive decline, youth mental health concerns, and the mental health impacts of chronic physical pain.
Get in touch
Whether you’re an innovator or working within the health and care system to address health challenges, we can support your mission.
Projects
Latest
