Yorkshire and Humber AHSN launches fourth accelerator programme

The Yorkshire and Humber Academic Health Science Network (AHSN) has opened applications for its fourth digital health accelerator programme.

The focus for this year’s Propel@YH programme is on early-stage SMEs, to help them further develop their innovations and ultimately support them to be more widely adopted in the NHS.

Interested organisations need to have a commitment to growing and spreading their digital innovations into the Yorkshire and Humber regions. In return they could benefit from a wide range of support, mentoring and masterclasses to help them build their market presence and accelerate their company’s growth.

Propel@YH offers companies on the accelerator programme which is a six-month course of structured support and advice. This advice is tailored to help them navigate the NHS landscape, while at the same time generating new investment and creating job opportunities for the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Neville Young, enterprise and innovation director at Yorkshire and Humber AHSN, said: “We are really pleased to be able to offer this unique level of support to health  tech innovators. The value and level of support they will receive on the programme will put them in a really strong position to grow and spread their offering into the NHS.”

Yorkshire and Humber AHSN will be working with West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership to support the SMEs to improve their environmental sustainability impact. Other expert partners offering support include Hill Dickinson (legal advice), Nexus, University of Leeds (networking opportunities) and Barclays Eagle Labs (funding guidance).

The masterclasses will be curated and run by Thrive By Design, while Leeds City Council, along with the Yorkshire & Humber AHSN will bring networking contacts to the programme.

Last year’s cohort included PhysioBuddie with co-founder, Matthew Booth, saying the programme helped the company with “the exposure” it needed.

Applications remain open until 4pm on Friday 2 September. In particular, applications are welcomed from SMEs that can support the NHS in dealing with some of the most pressing challenges at present. This includes the increasing patient backlog, tackling health inequalities and improving service delivery.