Accelerating women-led health innovation

The Challenge

Women remain underrepresented in health innovation. Structural barriers, including limited access to networks, funding, and early validation, mean that many promising ideas never progress.

This is particularly important in health and care, where:

• Innovations grounded in lived experience are critical to addressing unmet need
• Persistent inequalities continue to affect access, outcomes, and experience
• The NHS must rapidly evolve to meet growing demand and complexity

 Our Support

Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber worked in collaboration with Amazon Web Services and Nexus, University of Leeds to deliver the Women in Health Innovation & Technology (WHIT) Springboard Programme.

The programme is an early-stage accelerator designed to support women with innovative ideas to improve health and care. The programme consists of  1:1 tailored mentorship, expert sessions covering key areas such as innovation, health inequalities and commercial awareness and access to Nexus membership.

Results

• 75% of participants reported high levels of confidence following the programme, with 100% demonstrating increased or sustained confidence across key areas including health equity, mentorship engagement, and next-step progression.
• 88% of participants reported progression into new opportunities, including acceptance onto a further innovator support Programme (Propel), mentorship, network access, and further development pathways.
• 63% of participants have already engaged with further programmes, partnerships, or system stakeholders
• One participant has progressed into advanced discussions with national partners regarding integration into existing digital infrastructure, alongside growing international interest across multiple markets including the USA and UAE.
• Two innovators have been accepted onto the Propel Healthtech West Yorkshire programme.

Impact

The programme has strengthened connections across the innovation ecosystem, increasing the visibility of women-led innovation and enabling new partnerships.

• Participants have formed partnerships with each other including collaborations that have already achieved international traction, with plans to bring innovations into Yorkshire and the Humber.
• The programme has attracted national attention, with invitations to share learning at national platforms, including the House of Commons, and interest from partners seeking to collaborate.

Next Steps

 Building on the success of the programme, Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber is:

• Exploring opportunities to scale the WHIT work, including the Springboard regionally and nationally
• Strengthening partnerships to increase reach, sustainability, and impact
• Developing a WHIT network to support ongoing connection and progression

WHIT Springboard is supporting women to move from idea to action – contributing to a more inclusive, preventative, and responsive health and care system.

Amutha Balasubramanian, Founder, PenmaiCare, and one of the innovators on the Springboard Programme said:

 “This programme enabled me to build meaningful connections, strengthen my understanding of health equity, and gain confidence in clearly defining problems. It also empowered me to seek guidance from others, present my ideas to diverse audiences, and cultivate the motivation and passion to take the idea forward.”