An accelerator programme run by Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with UP Ventures and Par Equity has supported 12 tech start-ups address children’s health challenges such as asthma, diabetes, and ADHD.
With the help of a £115,000 investment from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Sheffield City Council and Brabners Solicitors, the 12-week programme focused on developing and scaling child health technologies for the NHS and the global healthcare market.
Applied Nanodetectors, based in London, focused on breath-analysis for asthma prediction, Tiny Medical Apps from London shared their Digital Asthma Passport, and Leeds-based DG Global shared “Digibete”, a digital diabetes self-care platform. Peili Vision, a Finnish start-up, worked on their ADHD screening tool using executive function simulation; Rebel Bionics from Leeds showcased their lightweight bionic hands for children; and Glasgow-based Seluna featured AI-driven sleep disorder diagnostics.
The 12 start-ups selected benefitted from opportunities including exposure to potential investors, specialist mentorship from clinicians and NHS senior leaders, and insight from industry leaders such as Dell for Startups and Nvidia. “The cohort of companies also gained unique access to NHS pilots, national academic and industry networks, and the opportunity to pitch showcase events targeting venture capitalist investors for post-programme funding,” Sheffield Children’s shared.
Feedback from a Young Person’s Advisory Panel, featuring 13–18 year-olds, also offered critical feedback to help inform product usability and marketing strategies, testing products and listening to pitches from each of the companies joining the programme.
Greg Burch, co-founder and joint CEO of Tiny Medical Apps, said: “It’s been fantastic to be surrounded by so many experts in so many fields – to have such great mentoring made it a really valuable programme for us. Learning about how to find investors that are right for you and aligned with your ideals and mission was especially useful. Another massive bonus was learning from people who don’t just talk about innovation but from those who have lived it – they’ve been through regulation and through scaling up and in some cases even gone on to sell their businesses.”
The partnership is currently exploring opportunities to launch a second round of the programme, with interested parties encouraged to sign up for future updates here.
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