Innovation, News

Six new SME innovation projects awarded funding

Innovation hub Enterprise East (HEE) has announced that the MedTech NAVIGATOR Innovation Grant Scheme will provide another six SMEs with funding.

Supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the NAVIGATOR programme has awarded funding to the following:

  • Tekihealth Solutions
  • NS Innovations
  • Flush-Tech
  • Yourgene Health
  • Tangi0
  • Anidium.

The projects involved will tackle healthcare priorities, such as COVID-19 and cancer diagnostics, cardiology and stroke prevention. While the latest funding boost brings the overall value of projects supported by the scheme to over £200,000.

Selected innovations include Tekihealth Solutions’ Teki-Hub, a tele-medicine device to help clinicians assess care home residents remotely, NS Innovations’ SoftPower rehabilitation and exercise device for those with limited physical abilities, and Tangi0’s virtual reality-based mirror therapy application for post-stroke patients.

Flush-Tech’s project on fluid monitoring to reduce dehydration-related illnesses and Acute Kidney Injury was also selected, alongside Yourgene Health’s development of its oncology gene panel, which uses a liquid biopsy to identify mutations in tumours, and Anidium’s YoHeartTM, a novel remote ECG solution.

The innovation grants are ‘designed to foster joint working and easier knowledge transfer’ between SMEs, NHS trusts and universities, to enable more efficient product development and get new medical technologies to the market.

Joop Tanis, Director of MedTech Consulting at HEE, said: “The early phases of medtech product development can be precarious, which is why tapping into the expertise available from both clinical and research settings is so important. Not only do these six winning innovations offer much-needed solutions to some of the most pressing areas of care, they also serve as a beacon of inspiration to other would-be innovators, by demonstrating that with a collaborative approach, clever ideas can indeed become a reality. We’re excited to see these award-winners embark on the next stage of their development journeys and can’t wait to continue to work with them as their products evolve.”

The next phase of grants from the total funding allocation of £300,000 will be announced in the coming months.

You can find out more about the projects and funding via the official MedTech website.