Two rounds of awards for femtech specialists we've supported

It has been a striking start to 2025 for companies supported by Health Innovation Wessex which are making strides in female healthcare technology, or with women in senior positions. 

Three were named in Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Awards, with funding accompanying the accolade and presented to support a critical stage in the innovation’s development. 

Five companies being guided by HIW have been announced by the Small Business Research Initiative Healthcare (SBRI) in a £1.3m funding round to support moving 14 companies’ innovations to the next stage of development. 

Bridging both awards is BirthGlide, with Chief Regulatory and Quality Affairs Officer Divya Varma recognised by Innovate UK for her work on a device to help women in the second stage of labour. 

Also in the Innovate UK roll of honour are Emma Yates, co-founder of Proteotype Diagnostics, and Dupe Burgess, founder of Bloomful. They are working towards earlier detection of cancers and digital therapeutic support for gynaecological conditions, respectively. 

The other HIW-supported companies receiving SBRI funding are Holly Health, Unravel Health, Samphire Neuroscience and LightHearted AI. 

Leading on femtech innovation support for Health Innovation Wessex is Gemma Snell, a Programme Manager for Industry and Innovation. 

She said: “There are many exciting innovations in the national pipeline focusing on ways of delivering better healthcare for women, and I’m delighted to see so many of those Health Innovation Wessex has worked with have projects funded by Innovate UK and the SBRI, and I hope we’ll start working with even more during 2025.” 

SBRI Healthcare is a national award-winning programme. It accelerates innovative technologies in the NHS and the wider health and social care system, tackling unmet health and care needs. The programme is funded by the Accelerated Access Collaborative, which brings together industry, government, regulators, patients and the NHS, and is supported by the Health Innovation Network.