Medtech businesses urged to apply for accelerator support worth £50k

Commercial technology accelerator BetaDen is offering early-stage technology businesses a programme of support worth £50,000 to accelerate their route to market.

The programme includes a proof of concept grant worth £7,500, free office space, specialist business mentoring and access to a 5G test and evaluation package.

Linda Smith

Linda Smith, founder and CEO of BetaDen, said: “We’re really excited to open applications to join BetaDen Cohort 5.0.

“Since the first cohort joined the programme three years ago this month, we’ve supported 30 early-stage technology businesses, awarding over £750,000 in grant funding and raising over half a million pounds in investment.

“Most importantly, cohort businesses have secured contracts and delivered pilot projects for a variety of industry-leading organisations, including HS2, the NHS, RoyalMail and NetworkRail, delivering real tech-based solutions for real-world problems and accelerating their route to market.”

Claire Owen, co-founder of DronePrep, was a member of the programme’s third cohort. She is now entrepreneur in residence at BetaDen and received the Innovator Award at the prestigious Women in Tech Awards this month.

She said: “BetaDen has played a central role in DronePrep’s success, giving us access to a network of business mentors and specialist advisors who have helped us hone our offer, prove our concept and make the connections necessary to commercialise our technology.

“Being part of a varied cohort of technology businesses also adds real value in terms of working alongside other entrepreneurs – learning from their experiences and bringing fresh perspectives that allow us to identify new opportunities and improve our business model.

“When we stop to think about it, it’s amazing how far we’ve come in such as a short space of time and that is thanks, in no small part, to the support we’ve received from BetaDen.”

BetaDen does not take equity in cohort businesses and is not aligned to any individual academic institution or government programme. This gives cohort members the freedom to focus their acceleration on real-world commercial needs.

Recent cohort members have launched a range of technologies, including biometric services, cyber security applications and environmental performance monitoring.

For more information about BetaDen and to apply to join cohort five, click here.

Applications close on November 30 with cohort 5 businesses expected to join the programme in January 2022.