DigitalHealth.London Leap Programme Launched

Posted on by DigitalHealth.London

Today, DigitalHealth.London welcomes 29 founders to their inaugural Leap programme — a pioneering initiative dedicated to championing inclusivity and providing tailored support to those from diverse backgrounds in the digital health innovation space.

Despite the anticipated growth of the European digital health industry, valued at £38.1 billion in 2023, founders still face significant challenges in accessing funding. In the UK, 80% of Venture Capitalist (VC) funding for AI has gone to all-male teams over the last decade, and less than 2% of VC start-up funding is allocated towards companies with founders who identify as being from an ethnic minority. For businesses founded by neurodiverse or disabled individuals, the outlook is even more concerning—a report from the Disability Policy Centre think tank estimates their ventures are 400 times less likely to succeed than their counterparts.

As the number of remarkable innovations from diverse founders continues to grow, addressing these disparities is crucial for fostering a more inclusive digital health ecosystem. Enter the inaugural DigitalHealth.London Leap programme — where participants will benefit from coaching, peer support, mentoring, learning, networking and potential investment/funding support where appropriate.

Our Leap programme, designed specifically to support diverse founders, isn’t just a programme; it’s a commitment to change. Through opportunities like coaching, mentoring, peer support, networking and targeting potential funding avenues, the DigitalHealth.London team are dedicated to supporting diverse founders in the digital health space. We are committed to embracing diversity, empowering innovators, and paving the way for a future in healthcare that’s not just impactful but profoundly inclusive.

Sara Nelson
Programme Director at DigitalHealth.London

The DigitalHealth.London Leap programme will feature mentoring opportunities from a dedicated and diverse programme advisory panel consisting of subject matter experts in their respective fields, including Ronke Adejolu (Chief Clinical Information Officer at Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West ICB and NHS South East Region), Aahuti Rai (Strategic Advisor in Healthcare Innovation at Four Points Consulting Ltd) and Barbara Domayne-Hayman (Entrepreneur-in-residence at The Francis Crick Institute).

I’m delighted to see and support the launch of Leap, a new programme specifically dedicated to foster inclusivity and provide tailored support to founders from diverse backgrounds in the digital health innovation space. Health innovation is a topic where diversity is not a nice-to-have. It is essential to meet the challenges arising from diverse needs and to devise equitable solutions.

Dr Mridula Pore
Co-founder of Peppy
DigitalHealth.London Leap Advisory Panel Member

Those selected to join the programme will also engage in dynamic networking events and Action Learning Sets, cultivating a collaborative space for peer-to-peer support and knowledge exchange. Each founder will also benefit from personalised support through regular drop-in sessions with a dedicated digital health navigator.

The 29 founders chosen for the first cohort of the Leap programme are:

For more information about the DigitalHealth.London Leap programme, please visit:
https://digitalhealth.london/programmes/leap.

The DigitalHealth.London Leap programme is funded by the UK Government via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). It is delivered by the Health Innovation Network (HIN) South London in partnership with the Office of Life Sciences, CW+, Medcity, NHS England, the Mayor of London and the Levelling Up Fund.

For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-
shared-prosperity-fund-prospectus.

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