15 HealthTech companies selected for accelerator programme at The Landing, MediaCityUK.
After receiving hundreds of applications, UP Ventures, the global tech accelerator, has announced the medical and health technology companies who are taking part in the new Greater Manchester Future of Health challenge – based at The Landing at MediaCityUK – including several from the North West region.
The cohort was selected by key partners in the Greater Manchester healthcare ecosystem – a ground-breaking example of collaboration across the region. The accelerator programme is run by UP Ventures and delivered in partnership with Novartis, Push Doctor, Google, The Landing, MediaCityUK, Salfold Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Salford Digital, Health Innovation Manchester and Apadmi, who also recently announced their move to The Landing.
Applications were open to health tech businesses from around the country, and the selected companies include those from London, Belfast and Kent. A number of North West-based businesses have been chosen, including Alderley Edge-based Gendius, a platform that uses AI to calculate risks relating to diabetes, and Manchester-based Mind Moose, a digital activity platform that helps children develop self-awareness and self-esteem.
Founder and CEO of UP Ventures, Danny Meaney, said “We received and reviewed hundreds of applications for the GM Future of Health Challenge and have been hugely impressed. The response is a testament to both UP’s repututation and connections in the early stage tech ecosystem, and Greater Manchester’s international reputation as a great place to grow early stage tech businesses.”
Josie Cahill, Head of Stakeholder Engagement for MediaCityUK, said: “MediaCityUK has a great and ever-growing track record of successful accelerator programmes. Health innovation is one of our key focuses and we’re delighted to see the strength and calibre of applications. We will continue to support and encourage these types of partnership programmes which speak to MediaCityUK’s ambition to be a living lab for the UK’s most exciting and emerging technologies. Watch this space for future opportunities.”
The 15 fast-growth start-up and scale-up businesses have been selected based on their potential to transform lives through the application of innovative technology, particularly those focused on supporting people with long-term health conditions such as dementia, diabetes and vision impairments, and innovations that will improve public health through prevention. The accelerator programme will support these companies to drive innovation, create new business opportunities and attract investors.
Karen Fox, Strategic Partnerships Lead for Novartis said, “At Novartis, we are committed to reimagining medicine for the benefit of patients and crucial to this is how we work with digital technology and data science. We want to work smart and innovatively to deliver meaningful results. The best way to achieve this is to work collaboratively with innovative companies. This partnership offers Novartis an opportunity to not only establish a strong presence in, and bring value to the field of health technology but also learn from and collaborate with entrepreneurial partners to rapidly test and validate potential new solutions, ultimately delivering innovations with the potential to reimagine medicine with data and digital.”
Dan Sodergren, Head of Business Services at The Landing, said: “The Landing has developed a specialism in digital health and we are fully geared up to help drive this programme. We’re excited to welcome these businesses from all over the UK and particularly pleased to see a number of North West-based companies in this cohort. As a region we continue to lead the way with the outstanding technology firms who either start-up here or choose to move here and we’re confident all the companies in this Greater Manchester Future of Health accelerator will benefit hugely from this experience.”
