Silicon Valley VC fund joins health tech accelerator
Plug and Play a Silicon Valley venture capital fund, is set to join the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator, to develop and scale up new technologies.
With 30 unicorns supported by Plug and Play including Dropbox, PayPal (acquired by Ebay) and Trulioo, the firm announced at Birmingham Tech Week that it is looking to work with more UK talent.
It joins the Health Tech Innovation Accelerator following a £14m injection from the West Midlands Combined Authorities’ Innovation Accelerator which is part of an Innovate UK funded programme.
The accelerator is expected to boost the regional economy by attracting in excess of £80m in private investment over the next three years according to Professor Rachel O’Reilly, Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Birmingham.
The project, which is focused on addressing the challenges of bringing new medical and healthcare technologies into the UK market, aims to unite key players in universities, hospitals, industry and government-funded ‘Catapults’ for manufacturing innovation, to help companies navigate ‘pinch-points’ in the commercialisation process.
Kieran Borrett, director of Plug and Play UK, said: “We are proud to bring Plug and Play Health to the UK and be selected as one of the delivery organisations of the WMHTIA.
“Plug and Play have been investing, accelerating and supporting startups to scale for over 30 years; we are excited to support a new generation of world changing companies through our global healthcare ecosystem.”
Project lead, Professor Liam Grover, of the University of Birmingham’s Healthcare Technologies Institute, said: “Commercialising new healthcare and medical technologies can be fraught with regulatory hurdles and big funding gaps. Our approach will help companies make sure they are taking the right steps, addressing a clearly defined healthcare need and working with the right partners to achieve success in the marketplace.”
Other WMHTIA delivery organisations include: University of Warwick, Aston University, Birmingham City University, Manufacturing Technology Centre, Medilink Midlands, Shoosmiths, Azets, Acuwomen, Smallfry Ltd, The Technology Supply Chain, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham Health Partners, Bruntwood SciTech, Precision Health Technologies Accelerator, Cogniss, Element Materials Technology and the West Midlands Growth Company.
