Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber will host a new Healthtech Accelerator as part of the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Investment Zone.
• £4.5m of funding has been allocated to develop the scheme which will support up to 240 businesses over the next four years.
• The funding will enable the expansion of Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber’s highly successful Propel@YH programme to deliver the initiative.
Yesterday, Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, kickstarted the delivery of the region’s £160m Investment Zone to support the growth of the health innovation and digital technology sector.
As part of this investment, a £4.5m partnership with Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber will see hundreds of companies receive support to help them accelerate their growth, create jobs and develop life-changing innovations for patients.
The funding, provided by the West Yorkshire Mayor, will enable the expansion of the highly successful Propel@YH accelerator programme, enabling it to provide even more intensive business support and masterclasses for innovators, helping them to scale into the NHS, attract investment, and contribute to regional economic growth.
Now in its sixth year, Propel@YH supported 19 healthtech small-medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in 2024-25. Between them, these 19 companies raised £24m of funding during their participation in Propel@YH, and the programme also invested £200k directly into the local economy.
Dr Neville Young, Director of Enterprise and Innovation at Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, said:
“Securing this partnership with the Investment Zone funding is fantastic news, not only for Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber, but for the West Yorkshire region. This funding will accelerate the growth of our health innovation and digital tech cluster, aligning closely with the government’s mission to support economic growth.”
“Our well-established and highly successful Propel@YH accelerator is the ideal vehicle to support the West Yorkshire Investment Zone. Over the past six years, it has successfully helped 70 UK-based healthtech innovators scale their solutions, driving investment regionally and nationally, delivering real benefits to the NHS and creating jobs in the sector.
This is an exciting opportunity to expand the programme, attract more companies with cutting-edge solutions, and further strengthen the healthtech and life sciences sector in our region, ultimately improving patient care and boosting the regional economy.”
Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said:
“The first priority of our Local Growth Plan is to boost our region’s fastest growing business sectors, because we know that’s how we’re going to drive investment, create jobs and put more money in people’s pockets.
“Today, we’re launching £4.5 million of new support for our world-leading health technology firms, which already generate £3 billion for our economy but could go even further with the right backing.
“This will help with access to finance, skills and workspace to bolster collaboration with hospitals and universities, boosting growth and helping us build a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire.”
Professor Simon Gilbody, a participant in the most recent Propel@YH cohort, Co-Founder of Third Age Therapeutics and Professor of Psychological Medicine at the University of York and Hull York Medical School said:
“The Propel@YH team is so supportive and knowledgeable. The 1:1 mentorship and the workshops help us to move an idea into a workable plan to achieve scale and spread. We have made so much progress in such a short period of time. The other element worth highlighting is the Propel@YH partners – they are really at the top of their game and are incredibly knowledgeable and supportive. I also now know a lot more about the digital and innovation ecosystem in Yorkshire, something that I had little knowledge of before I joined the programme.
Third Age Therapeutics has been introduced to some of the best in the business. We all want the region to be a nexus for innovation in the NHS. There is a sense of regional pride and recognition of the importance of the health-knowledge economy.”
Rebecca Wilson, Founder and Senior Clinical Safety Specialist at DigiSafe (a partner of the Propel@YH programme) said:
“Propel@YH stands out due to its personalised community-driven approach. It’s deeply embedded in the local ecosystem and advocates for the region’s health and tech advancements. The programme creates meaningful partnerships, educates innovators on diverse topics and leads to collaboration across the region and internationally. Not only is the programme helping UK-based innovations, it is also enabling great solutions to be showcased and used from overseas.”
