Healthcare innovation funding opportunity for SMEs

News article

Up to £150,000 funding is available to help businesses reach the next stage in their medical device development pathway.

SMEs developing medical equipment can apply for health and social care research funding from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) through the Invention for Innovation (i4i) Programme.

The Connect stream of the i4i Programme aims to help businesses reach the next stage in the development process to apply for further funding, in particular for an i4i Product Development Award.

Who is eligible? 

Your business must be developing medical devices in vitro diagnostics and high-impact patient-focused digital health technologies for use in the NHS or social care system.

The minimum entry point is experimental proof-of-concept or laboratory-validated technology. However, you may submit proposals to progress innovations at any stage of the research and development pathway leading to implementation.

Apply to the Connect stream of the i4i Programme.

This i4i Programme is one of the health and social care research funding schemes available to researchers in this field and in some cases Northern Ireland-based SMEs.

Other funding schemes available from Autumn 2023, include:

  • The Evidence Synthesis programme
  • Research for Social Care
  • Programme Grants for Applied Research programme
  • Programme Development Grants

Read more on the NIHR schemes available later this year.

First published 11 July 2023