Current opportunities
The opportunities listed below are in order of closing date. If you are looking to apply for one of the opportunities listed below, we can assist with grant applications. Visit our grant writing page to find out more.
Eurostars
Closing date: 19 March 2026
The Eurostars programme offers up to €360k (covering up to 60% of costs) for SME‑led research and development projects, including digital health, clinical technologies, and medical devices, and requires that an innovative SME leads the project consortium.
Visit the Eurostars webpage for more details.
NIHR NICE Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme
Closing date: 01 April 2026
The NIHR NICE Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation (EME) Programme offers rolling funding for high‑quality studies that directly address research recommendations from NICE guidance. Aimed at research teams focused on health-related outcomes, the programme supports robust efficacy and mechanistic studies through a two‑stage funding route. This opportunity enables researchers to generate rigorous evidence on whether interventions work, how they work, and for whom, ultimately helping to close priority evidence gaps, enhance NHS decision‑making, and improve future patient care.
Find out more on the NIHR website.
NIHR i4i THRIVE
Opening date: 12 March 2026
Closing date: 17 April 2026
The NIHR i4i THRIVE programme offers up to £150,000 over nine months to support early‑stage, technology‑based healthcare innovations that tackle health inequalities, combining funding with structured entrepreneurial training, mentoring, peer support, and market exploration activities. This call is aimed at academic and clinical entrepreneurs with innovations at TRL 3 or above, ensuring the technology is advanced enough for market‑testing and commercialisation planning. Eligible organisations include research institutes, NHS providers, charities, and CICs, although SMEs are not eligible to apply as leads; however, the programme strongly encourages applications from under‑represented innovators and underserved communities.
For more information, visit the NIHR website.
EU Innovative Health Initiative Call 12
Closing date 21 April 2026
IHI Call 12 is a single stage, applicant driven funding opportunity supporting major cross sector health innovation projects across five themes, including determinants of health, integrated R&I efforts, people centred healthcare, digitalisation and data exchange, and assessing added value of innovative care solutions. UK organisations are eligible for funding under Topics 1, 2, 3 and 5, but not Topic 4. Projects must be large scale collaborations requiring at least 45% in kind contributions from industry partners, and proposals must address unmet public health needs while demonstrating clear societal, economic, and scientific impact. For UK SMEs, this call offers an opportunity to join international consortia and contribute expertise to ambitious, innovation driven healthcare solutions.
Visit the IHI website for more information.
Innovate UK Contracts for Innovation in Drug & Alcohol Addiction Healthcare
Closing date: 6 May 2026
This Innovate UK competition supports the development of digital, pharmaceutical, and MedTech tools to improve treatment, recovery, and harm‑prevention in drug and alcohol addiction healthcare. Highly relevant for digital health SMEs; it is open to organisations of any size as the lead applicant.
For more information, visit the Innovate UK webpage.
Innovation Validation Call 2026
Closing date: 6 May 2026
EIT Health’s Innovation Validation Call 2026 offers UK SMEs developing digital or AI‑enabled medical technologies a significant opportunity to accelerate late‑stage product development. The programme targets solutions at Innovation Maturity Level (IML) 6 that are ready for pivotal clinical studies, regulatory submission and preparation for market launch. Successful applicants can access up to €850,000, with EIT Health funding up to 50% of total project costs. Funding supports activities such as running clinical validation studies, generating real‑world evidence, compiling CE‑mark application dossiers, and finalising commercial readiness. Projects can run for up to 24 months, enabling SMEs to bridge the gap between prototype and market entry.
For UK SMEs working in the digital health or med‑tech space, this call is particularly attractive because it focuses on innovation that addresses unmet clinical needs and has the potential to reach EU markets quickly. Solutions must show the ability to impact 150,000 EU patients or citizens and be capable of generating initial revenues within three years after funding. Applications must be submitted by a consortium of at least two organisations from different eligible countries. This creates opportunities for UK companies to form cross‑border partnerships while gaining access to EIT Health’s wider European network and expert support ecosystem.
For more information, visit EIT Health’s website.
New Models to Deliver Healthcare Call
Closing date: 6 May 2026
EIT Health’s New Models to Deliver Healthcare Call 2026 offers UK SMEs an opportunity to scale proven, market‑ready health solutions at Innovation Maturity Level 8–9 into real‑world healthcare systems. The call supports collaborative, industry‑led, payor‑supported and patient‑centric projects that implement and expand value‑based healthcare models. Funding is available for up to 24 months, with EIT Health contributing up to 50% of project costs and a maximum grant of €700,000 per project. Eligible activities include deploying digital and data‑driven care pathways, integrating outcome‑based care processes, collecting and analysing PREMs/PROMs and health‑economics data, optimising clinical workflows, and engaging with healthcare payors to support reimbursement decisions.
Value‑based healthcare refers to a model in which healthcare providers are rewarded for the quality of care delivered rather than the quantity of services provided. In practice, this means focusing on improving patient health outcomes while simultaneously ensuring efficient use of healthcare resources. Within the NMDH Call, this translates into supporting projects that can demonstrate measurable improvements in patient outcomes, stronger patient engagement, and sustainable cost‑efficient care pathways. For UK SMEs ready to deploy scalable solutions, this call provides both financial backing and a structured route to adoption across European healthcare ecosystems.
For more information, visit EIT Health’s website.
i4i Product Development Awards (PDA) – October 2025 | NIHR
Opening date: 8 April 2026
Closing date: 27 May 2026, 1:00 PM
The NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) Product Development Awards (PDA) provide one of the main i4i funding routes open to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) developing health‑tech innovations. This call supports collaborative projects that bridge the gap between proof‑of‑concept and real‑world clinical adoption, funding activities such as prototype development, early feasibility studies, regulatory planning, clinical validation, and real‑world evaluations. SMEs can receive up to 100% funding, making this scheme well‑suited for companies seeking to accelerate the development of medical devices, diagnostics, digital health technologies, or AI‑driven health tools with a clear pathway to NHS integration.
For more information, visit the NIHR website.
Longstanding opportunities:
EIC Accelerator (UK based organisations are eligible)
The EIC Accelerator supports individual small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to develop and scale game-changing innovations providing substantial financial support with:
- Grant funding (non-dilutive) of up to €2.5 million for innovation development costs, including demonstration of the technology in the relevant environment, prototyping and system level demonstration, R&D and testing required to meet regulatory and standardisation requirements, intellectual property management, and marketing approval (e.g. at least TRL 5/6 to 8).
- Investments (direct equity investments or quasi-equity such as convertible loans- for EU based organisations only) of up to €15 million managed by the EIC Fund for scale up and other relevant costs.
Visit the European Innovation Council website for more information about their accelerator.
The British Heart Foundation (BHF)
EIC STEP Scale-Up
The EIC STEP Scale Up scheme, part of the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), provides equity-only investments of €10–30 million to startups, SMEs, and small mid-caps aiming to scale breakthrough innovations in strategic sectors like digital, deep tech, clean tech, and biotech. With a 2025 budget of €300 million, the scheme targets high-risk, high-potential companies that have already secured at least 20% of their funding round from a qualified investor. The programme supports innovations in areas such as AI and advanced biotechnologies, including critical medicines, DNA/RNA, proteins, cell engineering, gene vectors, bioinformatics, and nanobiotechnology. Successful applicants gain access to Business Acceleration Services and may receive a STEP Seal, enhancing visibility and access to further funding opportunities.
TheHill is always open to collaborations and keen to partner with other organisations as consortium member on collaborative projects, if you are interested please complete our triage form.