Health Data Research UK is proud to announce its collaboration with KQ Labs – an accelerator programme led by the Francis Crick Institute to support start-ups at the interface between biomedical and data science.
Artificial intelligence and digital technology are predicted to have a wide-ranging impact on health services. It is hoped that the sector will transform, from the treatment of illnesses to prediction and prevention.
To encourage the development and adoption of new, data-driven technology in biomedical science, Innovate UK has invested £400,000 in KQ Labs an intensive accelerator programme offered to 10 high growth potential start up teams in data-driven biomedical science. Health Data Research UK and Genomics England are collaborating with the accelerator to guide the start-up companies on issues relating to data access.
After a vigorous selection process ten start-ups were selected to be included in this first cohort and will receive a £40k award designed to progress their ideas towards future investment and commercial launch. The ten companies that will receive support are:
- Ayuda, whose app helps diabetes patients with insulin management
- Chromadose, which personalises monitoring of blood levels to deliver oncology drugs
- ConcR, which uses data to predict cancer evolution and patient response to treatment
- Cortirio, which has developed a scanner for portable diagnosis of brain injuries
- Deepscope, the developer of an educational app for ultrasound simulation
- Heron, the creators of a graphical ‘map of science’
- LifeEngine AI, whose hospital tool predicts mortality from acute kidney injury
- Macusoft, whose artificial intelligence system helps guide the treatment of preventable sight loss
- Mendelian, which has developed an online platform to help speed up diagnosis of rare diseases
- Vision Game Labs, which uses gaming techniques to diagnose eye disease through home monitoring
The ten start-ups identified as having the potential to make a global impact on health outcomes will now benefit from our partnership’s shared knowledge and expertise, with see each group going through the 16-week KQ Labs accelerator programme. This will include workshops to inspire and nurture the next generation of start-ups and training in transferable skills to create future digital health leaders. Tailored support after the accelerator programme will help start-ups to access further funding and investment.
Dr Veronique Birault, Head of Translation at the Crick, said:
“This is the start of a very exciting journey for the 10 start-ups, and also a great contribution towards building the ecosystem for data-driven health in the Kings Cross area.”
Caroline Cake, Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Director at Health Data Research UK, said:
“We are delighted to see the launch of this fantastic initiative to support start-ups that have the potential to transform health outcomes through data science. We are very keen to get started and offer our support to the successful companies in finding their way around data access issues and following their progress.”
Progress, programme updates and further information about KQ Labs will be available on the Francis Crick Institute website.
