Healthcare and health technology businesses in the UK can access funding through the NIHR, SBRI Healthcare programme, NHS innovation networks, and Innovate UK competitions. This guide explains each route and what qualifies.
Healthcare is one of the most consistently funded sectors in UK grant programmes - driven by NHS procurement pressure, an ageing population, and the government's life sciences ambitions. For businesses developing health technologies, diagnostics, digital health tools, or care services, there are more relevant funding routes than in most sectors. The challenge is navigating a system that sits across the Department of Health, NHS England, UKRI, and Innovate UK simultaneously.
NIHR is the primary research funding body for health and care in England. It funds clinical research, health technology assessments, and applied health and care research. For businesses, the most relevant NIHR routes are the Research for Patient Benefit programme (applied research with NHS partners), the Health Technology Assessment programme (for devices and diagnostics), and NIHR's i4i (Invention for Innovation) programme, which funds early-stage health product development up to £1 million. NIHR funding typically requires NHS collaboration - a clinical partner is usually necessary.
The Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare is one of the most valuable and underused programmes in UK health funding. NHS England and Improvement run themed competitions - each targeting a specific clinical problem - and pay businesses to develop and test solutions within the NHS. Phase 1 awards are typically £50,000–£100,000 for feasibility; Phase 2 awards of £250,000–£1 million fund development and piloting. Crucially, SBRI acts as a customer, not just a funder - winning SBRI Healthcare is validation that the NHS will pay for your solution, which makes subsequent commercial discussions much easier.
Innovate UK runs dedicated life sciences and digital health competitions alongside its open SMART grant programme. These sector-specific competitions attract businesses developing medical devices, digital therapeutics, AI diagnostics, genomics tools, and care technology. They're coordinated with UKRI's Medical Research Council and often run alongside NIHR, meaning the same project can sometimes access funding from multiple angles.
England has fifteen Academic Health Science Networks (AHSNs), soon to become Health Innovation Networks. Each AHSN covers a region and has funding to support the adoption of innovations within its NHS patch - this is distinct from R&D funding and targets products that already work and need deployment pathways. Some AHSNs have their own small grant programmes; all provide introductions to NHS buyers and commissioners that are harder to get independently.
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