Welcome to our MAA blog, where we’ll be updating you on this year’s cohort during their time on the programme. If you would like to find out more about our NHS Market Access Accelerator programme, please email Rowan Mould, our Start-Up Programme manager.
July update: Working with the NHS means more than a checklist…
Throughout our programme days in July, TheHill’s Market Access Accelerator equipped the 2025 cohort of Healthtech innovators with insights into the strategy and know-how needed to bring their innovation to market in the NHS.
The journey began with a deep dive into the UK’s Healthtech investment landscape, as Meridian Ventures’ Madhav Mahendra revealed what truly catches a venture capitalist’s eye. Pioneer Group’s Fillippo Dal Ben then helped participants turn that insight into action, mapping investment plans and preparing for the tough questions that come with fundraising.
Not all funding means giving up equity though, and TheHill’s Stefania Schino opened up the world of grants and support schemes, showing founders how to secure non-dilutive capital to power growth.
Regulation and compliance came next – the essential gateways to NHS market access. iMed Consultancy demystified medical device approvals, while Naq unpacked the must-meet standards for digital health, from GDPR to cyber security. Protecting innovation was the focus with Mathys & Squire’s masterclass on patents, trademarks, and safeguarding IP, followed by Richardsons Chartered Accountants’ guide to R&D tax credits and other finance considerations.
But working with the NHS means more than a checklist – it requires an approach built on relationships and trust. Patchwork Health founder Jing Ouyang shared the highs and lows of getting a product into NHS hands, and Oxford University Hospitals’ Director of Digital, Ian Fabbro, gave a rare look inside the trust’s digital landscape, helping innovators see exactly where their ideas could make an impact.
The month came to a close on a high-energy note with Oceanview Marketing’s Dan Buckley, who challenged participants to refine their messages, know their audiences, and communicate their value with clarity and confidence, while James Brooke from James Hallam insurance brokers gave an overview of the risks founders need to be aware of when working in healthcare and how to ensure you’re protected if something does go wrong.
At the end of July, the cohort not only deepened their knowledge and understanding of the NHS, but connected the dots between finance, regulations, compliance, and market engagement to build a clear way forward. Supported by our fantastic pool of mentors and the rest of the team at TheHill, the cohort have a clearer sense of the path ahead and are building confidence to move from innovation to impact.
June update: Kick off for our 2025 MAA Programme
Welcome to the first recap of this year’s NHS Market Access Accelerator, where we’ll take you through what the companies on our flagship programme have been learning over the last month.
The programme kicked off on 4 June with the cohort being introduced to people they’ll be working with over the course of the programme, including TheHill team, mentors for the programme, partners who helped to make the programme possible, Oxford University Hospital’s Chief Digital and Information Officer, Ben Attwood, and Director of Innovation and TheHill, Megan Morys-Carter. They presented five-minute pitches which introduced their solutions to partners and TheHill team. Later in the month, the cohort was presented with an introduction to the NHS’s structures, run by TheHill’s director Megan Morys-Carter. The complexity of the NHS’s structures was a key point identified by some of the companies as something they needed help with, and this session’s deep dive enabled them to learn a lot about these structures and how they impact on innovation.
This was complimented by programme lead, Dr Rowan Mould, delivering a session about building value in the NHS. Dr Mould showcased how tech creates value across multiple shareholder groups, from management to staff and to patients. Case studies of previous MAA participants OxCan and Concentric were highlighted to help illustrate how successful companies can be if they’re able to fully grasp and embrace the intricacies of the NHS’s structures.
In case you missed it: OxCan secured $11 million in Series A funding at the start of 2025, funding further development and global commercialisation of their groundbreaking liquid biopsy solution for early lung cancer detection. Meanwhile, Concentric have been rolled out at OUH and 34 other NHS trusts and are the leading UK provider of digital consent solutions.
The cohort also met TheHill’s innovation pipeline team, Ravi Chal and Ed Jaspers. They introduced the cohort to the pipeline process and to innovation engagement. The team showcased best practice when it comes to engaging with staff, the strategy we use to ensure our engagements are valuable, and how to pin down the best use case for their technology. They also taught the cohort about the process for piloting innovation at OUH, setting them in good stead for future progress.
If this update has piqued your interest in joining a future cohort on the programme, book a one-to-one with Rowan Mould to find out more about how our MAA programme could help you gain a better understanding of how the NHS works and build a strong foundation for future growth.