Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust has joined partners from across West Yorkshire to celebrate the launch of the new Health Innovation Leeds Incubator at Nexus Leeds – a major new initiative designed to support healthtech innovators and accelerate the development of technologies that can improve patient care.
The launch took place during the Ignition Event, held as part of the Leeds Digital mini‑fest, and brought together health innovators, entrepreneurs, clinicians, researchers, and industry leaders from across the region. The event showcased the growing strength, connectivity and ambition of the Leeds and West Yorkshire health innovation ecosystem.
Backed by £2 million in funding, the Health Innovation Leeds Incubator is led by Nexus at the University of Leeds, in partnership with Leeds Beckett University and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, working closely with Leeds City Council. The programme has been designed to support healthtech start‑ups, SMEs, and scaling businesses across West Yorkshire at critical stages of their growth.
The Incubator will help businesses overcome common barriers by providing access to expertise and tailored support across key areas, including NHS adoption, regulation, product development, and investment readiness. By strengthening links between innovators and the healthcare system, the programme aims to accelerate the safe and effective introduction of new technologies into clinical practice.
As one of the UK’s leading research‑active NHS Trusts, Leeds Teaching Hospitals plays a central role in enabling innovation, research, and collaboration across the region. The Ignition Event also highlighted the Trust’s ongoing commitment to innovation through initiatives such as the Innovation Pop Up — LTHT’s dedicated innovation space created to connect clinicians, researchers, industry partners, and entrepreneurs.
The Innovation Pop Up continues to provide a platform for collaboration, offering networking opportunities, live demonstrations, and practical, real‑world conversations focused on how new ideas and technologies can be brought into healthcare more effectively.
Opening the event, Richard Paxman OBE, Chair of the West Yorkshire HealthTech Cluster, spoke about the momentum building across the region’s healthtech community.
He said, “Innovation takes grit. It takes belief when things get complex. And it takes a region willing to back bold ideas and the people behind them.”
The Health Innovation Leeds Incubator will provide tailored support to more than 70 regional healthtech businesses, alongside a programme of workshops, networking opportunities, and knowledge‑sharing sessions. These will focus on priority areas including AI in healthcare, regulation, scaling businesses and working effectively with the NHS.
The launch event underlined not only the depth of collaboration across Leeds and West Yorkshire, but also the region’s growing ambition to shape the future of healthcare innovation both nationally and internationally.
Image credit: iStock
