Kickstart your venture with the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator

MedTech Venture Kickstarter – one of four Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator themes run by the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering

We are pleased to announce a new programme – the Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator MedTech Venture Kickstarter.

The Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator – Late Stage Accelerating FemTech and MedTech Venture Kickstarter, funded by Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst, is a pilot later-stage accelerator that will be delivered between August 2025 to February 2026.

It has two themes: Accelerating FemTech: Evaluate and MedTech Venture Kickstarter. The accelerator was awarded to the Health Innovation Network South London, with delivery of the MedTech Venture Kickstarter (MVK) sub-contracted to London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE).

The MedTech Venture Kickstarter is a 4-month focussed programme designed explicitly to provide ventures the commercial resilience to enter the market, through access to the UK’s leading MedTech ecosystem, mentorship from our Experts-in-Residence and support from LIHEs expert translation teams.

The programme is FREE for all ventures selected through a highly competitive application process. We welcome companies from across the UK to apply and join our unique ecosystem.

Apply with your venture here.

Application deadline: Monday, 29 September, 12.00

Join one of our in-person or virtual sessions to learn more about the MVK programme

• IUK Biomedical Catalyst Roadshow – Tuesday, 9 September,11.00–13.30 at LIHE. Register here.

• LIHE MedTech Venture Kickstarter Application Info Session – Monday, 22 September, 2pm (virtual). Register here.

Learn more and apply

Accelerating FemTech: Evaluate – one of four Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator themes run by the Health Innovation Network South London

Applications are now also open for Accelerating FemTech: Evaluate, a new Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator supporting innovations in women’s health.

Delivered by the Health Innovation Network South London with national partners and funded by Innovate UK Biomedical Catalyst, this hybrid 10-week programme is designed for innovators across the UK with technology readiness level (TRL) 4+ solutions for women’s health. These innovations should have the potential to address current challenges in women's health and other conditions that affect women differently or disproportionally.

The programme enables growth through tailored support, helping to identify strategic collaborations and pathways for real-world evaluation, such as cost effectiveness. Participants will benefit from expert-led workshops, business coaching, mentoring, peer-learning and networking opportunities with stakeholders from across the healthcare system. Its all about supporting innovators to make a real impact in women’s health.

Apply by 11:59 pm on Sunday 28 September: Accelerating FemTech: Evaluate - Health Innovation Hub

Sign up to the 101 webinar on Wednesday 17 September to learn more and ask questions to the programme delivery team: Accelerating FemTech: Evaluate 101 Webinar Tickets, Wed, Sep 17, 2025 at 12:00 PM | Eventbrite

London Institute for Engineering (LIHE) – modern co-working spaces among a community of MedTech venture builders

At the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE) we’re dedicated to helping individuals and ventures bring their MedTech innovations to life with real benefits to healthcare clinicians, practitioners – and primarily, patients. We’re already home to companies and spinouts including Siemens Healthineers, NVIDIA, Fraiya, Hypervision and more, and now, we’re opening our doors even wider to the medical device ventures community with our new membership packages.

Designed to expand access to our state-of-the-art facilities, the packages offer a way of connecting with and co-working within LIHE’s ecosystem of entrepreneurs and ventures. LIHE membership options provide a variety of benefits including:

• Access to our first-floor hotdesking spaces

• WiFi

• Onsite reception and security

• Tea and coffee

• Printing services

• Booking system access

• Events (depending on membership package)

Opened in 2024, our spaces offer the very latest facilities for co-working and collaboration – whether you are visiting London for a morning meeting and in need of a touch down space for the afternoon, a more regular visitor over a few days per week or looking for more full-time access. Whatever your preference, importantly, you will work alongside likeminded people – those navigating the ups and downs of commercialising their medical devices.

Find out more about our options and how to access LIHE by contacting lihe.ops@kcl.ac.uk

The MHRA has updated its clinical investigation flow chart and released new accompanying guidance. This flowchart clarifies when a clinical investigation is required for studies involving medical devices in the UK.

Key updates include:

• Early-stage human studies: Studies using non-CE/UKCA marked devices intended to support the development of a medical device, such as data collection or formative usability evaluations, will no longer require a clinical investigation, even if the devices are patient-contacting or deliver a placebo or energy.

• Comparator studies: Any safety and performance comparison studies, regardless of whether the results are intended to inform clinical decisions during the study, will now require a clinical investigation.

If you are planning a basic science or clinical investigation study involving your device, we recommend reviewing this guidance promptly.

If you are unsure whether your planned study qualifies as a clinical investigation:

• Current members of LIHE programmes: Contact the Quality and Regulatory Team at cme-quality@kcl.ac.uk for guidance.

• Non-members or if further assistance is needed: Submit an annotated copy of the flowchart, showing and explaining your decision pathway, to info@mhra.gov.uk with the subject line: [Company Name] – Is a Clinical Investigation Required?.

• Additionally, please provide details of:

  • Who is conducting the proposed study;

  • Who has manufactured the device;

  • What the intended purpose of the device is;

  • Whether any medical application is foreseen for the device; and

  • A copy of the study protocol where possible.

Life Sciences and Research Clusters Awards 2025 Best Research and Commercial Collaboration winner – King’s College London and Siemens Healthineers

We are pleased to announce that since the beginning of the year, LIHE has won three important awards.

Life Sciences and Research Clusters Awards 2025
Best Research & Commercial Collaboration – King’s College London and Siemens Healthineers

LIHE has been recognised for its architectural ambition and healthcare-driven design. This Silver Award highlights the innovative facility at the heart of our mission.

European Healthcare Design Awards 2025
Best Project – Life Sciences

Selected from a competitive international shortlist, LIHE's win reflects our leadership in advancing translational research and engineering for health.

Summer events at LIHE (L-R) – NHS CEP Pit Stop 1, MedTech Super Connector and MedTech bootcamps

It’s been a busy July for LIHE. We welcomed our newest programme cohorts with intensive, three-day MedTech Venture Builder and MedTech Accelerator bootcamps. Both provided an opportunity for participants to connect with LIHE’s ecosystem and learn what it takes for their ventures to succeed.

We were also delighted to host Coulter Partners’ MedTech Super Connector. Part of London Tech Week, the exclusive event provided a dedicated space for start-ups, scale-ups, pharma, MedTech digital innovators, investors, the NHS, and healthcare providers to connect, collaborate and share their experiences.

Finally, we also enjoyed hosting the NHS CEP’s first Pit Stop. Focused on ‘starting up’, day one provided a chance for CEP entrepreneurs to meet with NHS, industry and third sector people to help guide their innovation journeys. On day two LIHE teams provided an overview of our ecosystem and how we can help them advance their medical technologies.