Overview
Innovate UK is seeking expressions of interest to establish an approved provider pool to support delivery of the Biomedical Catalyst Accelerator Programme and potentially wider health and life sciences accelerator programmes. The aim is to identify experienced providers with a proven track record of designing and delivering high quality, end to end accelerator programmes for innovative UK registered micro, small and medium sized enterprises.
The competition is for entry into an approved provider pool. Selection does not guarantee future work, and Innovate UK may appoint providers using a portfolio approach to ensure balanced capability, expertise and coverage across programme themes and stages of business development.
Scope
This competition is open to organisations capable of delivering structured accelerator programmes aligned to Biomedical Catalyst or wider health and life sciences themes. Support must be tailored to the needs of innovative SMEs operating across biomedical and healthcare R&D.
Providers may apply to deliver early stage accelerators, late stage accelerators, or both. Applications must clearly demonstrate how delivery can be mobilised efficiently when called upon, how quality and governance will be maintained, and how outcomes will be monitored and reported to Innovate UK.
Key themes and topics
Accelerator support must be tailored to SMEs working across a broad range of biomedical and healthcare R&D areas, including:
- Advanced therapies, including cell, gene, RNA and regenerative approaches
- Biosciences and platform technologies
- Preclinical tools, target discovery and validation
- Therapeutics and medicine development, including antimicrobial resistance and infectious disease
- Diagnostics and biomarkers, including antimicrobial resistance and infectious disease
- Medical technologies, devices and robotics
- Precision and personalised medicine
- Digital and data-driven health
- Healthy ageing and independent living
The competition includes two strands:
- Early stage accelerator support, focusing on ideation, proposition development, customer discovery, early commercial validation and business model development
- Late stage accelerator support, focusing on scale-up, investment readiness, regulatory and reimbursement strategy, market access and commercial growth
Project duration
There is no defined project duration at expression of interest stage.
Delivery timelines will be confirmed if providers are called upon to deliver future accelerator programmes.
Award value
Any future funding provided for delivery of accelerator programmes will be awarded separately and may be subject to further competition or procurement.
Future accelerator programmes are expected to support around 10 to 15 participants per cohort, with indicative programme costs of up to £500,000.
Funding rates
This is an Expression of Interest - there is no funding available at this stage.
If appointed to the provider pool, any future funding for accelerator delivery will be provided on a no subsidy basis, with eligible project costs expected to be funded at 100%, subject to the terms of any future award.
Eligibility criteria
Applications must be submitted by a single organisation. Consortia are not permitted.
Lead applicants must be a UK registered business of any size, an academic institution, charity, not for profit organisation, research and technology organisation, or public sector organisations.
Applicants must demonstrate a proven track record of designing and delivering end to end, structured accelerator programmes for innovative SMEs, with evidence of scale, duration and measurable outcomes.
Applicants must operate at arm’s length from Innovate UK and UK Research and Innovation in the delivery of accelerators and innovation programmes.
Delivery activities must be carried out primarily in the UK, with the intention to support UK registered innovative SMEs.
Subcontractors must be preferably UK-based with fully justified and appropriate costs, selected through appropriate procurement processes.
This competition is awarded on a no subsidy basis and applicants must not gain a selective commercial or economic advantage from participation.
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