University of Birmingham-led Health Tech Accelerator Secures £4m to Extend Innovation Support in the West Midlands

By Anushka Malhotra

1 minute 25 seconds

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Quick Read: The University of Birmingham-led WMHTIA has secured £4m to extend its support for health tech innovators across the West Midlands, building on strong job creation, investment, and business growth.

The West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator (WMHTIA), led by the University of Birmingham, has secured an additional £4 million in public funding to continue its work into 2025/26, further strengthening the region's position as a UK leader in health tech innovation.

The funding forms part of a wider £30 million extension of the national Innovation Accelerator (IA) programme, which supports high-growth sectors through locally driven innovation. The West Midlands, along with Greater Manchester and the Glasgow City Region, will each receive an equal £10 million share to help fuel regional economic development and technological advancement.

The WMHTIA, a flagship initiative within the West Midlands Combined Authority's (WMCA) IA programme, has already demonstrated strong results since launching in 2022, including:

- 110 jobs created or safeguarded

- Support provided to 105 health tech companies and research teams

- £2.48m in additional grant funding awarded

- £28.4m in private co-investment secured in the first year

- 269 health tech organisations engaged in its support network

Professor Liam Grover, WMHTIA Lead, commented:

“This funding extension gives us the momentum to build a truly thriving cluster in the West Midlands. The results from the past two years show just how deep the region’s health tech potential runs.”

The programme has played a key role in connecting academia, industry, and healthcare, with strategic partnerships involving the NHS, universities, and private sector innovators.

Dean Cook, Executive Director of Place and Global at Innovate UK, said:

“The WMHTIA is a key part of connecting local talent and technologies to national healthcare challenges. This continued investment will help bring ground-breaking innovations to market and support the NHS.”

The WMHTIA includes partners from Aston University, Birmingham City University, the Manufacturing Technology Centre, and other regional institutions. The extension ensures continued support for a pipeline of promising companies developing transformative healthcare products and services.

As the programme enters its third year, the University of Birmingham and its partners are poised to deepen their impact—supporting start-ups, accelerating R&D, and driving economic growth in health and life sciences across the West Midlands.

What's new

Innovation Accelerator Pilot Programme Creates More Than £140m Co-investment With 250 Jobs

A UK government-backed innovation programme has delivered a major boost to regional economies, generating more than £140 million in new investment and creating up to 250 full-time equivalent jobs across the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Glasgow City Region.

Funded by Innovate UK, working with UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), early impacts emerging from the Innovation Accelerator pilot programme demonstrate it is already delivering significant economic outcomes.

Launched in April 2022, the pilot programme pioneers a new funding approach, co-created with local leadership to fast-track high-growth industries and harness regional strengths.

Glasgow City Region is demonstrating the power and impact of the triple helix model- combining public sector backing, academic expertise, and private sector investment. This collaborative approach is accelerating innovation to market, creating high-quality local jobs, building sustainable supply chains, and has already leveraged over £47 million in private sector investment.

Greater Manchester is using the Innovation Accelerator to advance its strengths in advanced materials and manufacturing, digital and tech, low carbon and health innovation, while placing a strong emphasis on social inclusion. The Centre for Digital Innovation project has offered skills development and community outreach to all 10 of the city-region’s boroughs through its network of further education colleges, while the Turing Innovation Catalyst is helping people from underrepresented groups develop a career in AI.

Meanwhile, West Midlands is accelerating R&D and innovation strengths in greener technologies and improved personalised and digital healthcare, diversifying its economy while boosting supply chains. Furthermore, indications show by the end of 2025, 161 jobs will have been created in the region through this programme.

With an initial £100 million investment, plus a £30 million extension secured for 2025/26, this pilot is generating regional growth and vibrant innovation ecosystems.

The Innovation Accelerator pilot is also bringing new technology, products and services to market:

In the West Midlands, the

Clean Futures

programme helped to develop a new coating for EV batteries to extend their life, while also supporting startup

Moonbility

, to create an AI ‘digital twin’ platform to help rail operators respond faster to disruptions in a proof-of-concept for London North Eastern Railway.

The Government is building on its success through a Local Innovation Partnerships Fund of up to £500m, which is part of the

wider £86 billion of R&D funding

announced ahead of the Spending Review to turbo-charge the fastest growing sectors, from tech and life sciences, to advanced manufacturing and defence.

The new fund will empower local leaders across the UK to target their research investment in the region, boosting high skilled jobs and igniting growth across the country – the core mission of the government’s Plan for Change.

Science Minister, Lord Vallance, said:

These findings show the important part that leaders who know their regions best can play in capitalising on local strengths to improve lives and create new jobs, from healthcare to space technology and advanced manufacturing to AI. This government is building on these promising investments into Glasgow, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands, with up to £500m of further local partnership funding for regions in every corner of the UK, so that more excellent, local expertise can be channelled into driving economic growth.

Dean Cook, Executive Director for Place and Global at Innovate UK, added:

The Innovation Accelerator pilot has proven the power of place-based innovation to unlock economic potential and transform regional R&D ecosystems. By building on the distinct strengths of the West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Glasgow City Region, we’ve seen clusters of innovation flourish by attracting significant co-investment, creating new products and services, and delivering hundreds of high-value jobs.
At the heart of our approach lies the principle of co-creation, recognising the wisdom of local people with a deep understanding of local strengths to be built upon. This local knowledge is complemented by Innovate UK’s reach as the national innovation agency, linking these regional clusters with opportunities provided by national and international networks. The Innovation Accelerator pilot has proven to be a strategic commitment to developing thriving innovation clusters that continues to drive long-term prosperity for the UK.

To discover how Innovate UK's Innovation Accelerator pilot is shaping the future of innovation across West Midlands, Greater Manchester and Glasgow City Region, visit the

Innovate UK Business Connect

website.

By Innovate UK

6 Jun