DigitalHealth.London has launched a call for early stage companies looking to raise between £250,000 and £5m, in collaboration with MedCity and investment management and advisory firm RYSE.

It follows an earlier programme that saw 300 startups submit their applications, with Skin Analytics and LifeSmart raising £1.6m and £1.25m, respectively, in funding from RYSE and other investors.

“In the last call we reviewed applications from companies offering some of the most exciting technological advances in this space and we hope to hear from more companies who are making a positive impact on health outcomes,” said Yinka Makinde, DigitalHealth.London programme director.

The call is running until 5 August and is not limited to a specific category. However, areas of interest include telehealth, mHealth, health analytics and digitised systems.

WHY IT MATTERS

DigitalHealth.London was created to accelerate uptake of technology across the NHS in London, supporting up to 30 startups and SMEs every year to develop and deploy their solutions.

The expansion of the partnership with RYSE and MedCity, launched in 2014 to help grow the life sciences industry in the south east of England, is part of the efforts aiming to tackle challenges early stage digital health companies face when seeking to raise funding, according to Shabir Chowdhary, managing partner at RYSE.

In June, a BIO 2019 panel bringing together digital health investors agreed that patient-centric approaches, digital therapeutics and technologies going beyond existing care models would continue to play a leading role in the industry in the coming years.

Last week, we published a summary of the digital health investment we covered in the second quarter of 2019, which amounted to $2.45bn (approximately £1.96bn) from 81 deals.

ON THE RECORD

Sarah Haywood, executive director at MedCity, said: “Sourcing finance is often a challenge for early-stage digital health companies, blocking the progress of new innovations that are desperately needed to address patient needs.

“This ongoing partnership between DigitalHealth.London and RYSE is plugging the funding gap and supporting the right conditions to allow the UK’s digital health sector to thrive.”

More information about the call can be found here.

Editor's note, 10 July: This article was updated to reflect that the DigitalHealth.London programme is offering the opportunity, and not the DigitalHealth.London accelerator.