MATcelerate HEALTH Funding
Round 2

The Henry Royce Institute for Advanced Materials is offering grant funding for research, development, and innovation sprint projects through Round 2 of its MATcelerate HEALTH funding programme.

PLEASE NOTE: Applications to this call are restricted to researchers from the MATcelerate HEALTH partner Universities who are working with their University Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs).

MATcelerate HEALTH is a Royce facilitated initiative designed to accelerate the commercialisation of advanced materials technologies within the healthcare sector. It functions as an industry-driven accelerator, connecting leading research universities with global companies to help bridge the gap between academic innovation and market-ready solutions.

Healthcare materials innovation faces critical bottlenecks that prevent promising technologies reaching patients due to:

• Complex interdependencies between materials, biological systems, and clinical environments
• Integration challenges across academic research and industrial development
• Scalability, manufacturing, and regulatory hurdles that increase risk profiles
• Limited early engagement with end-users, clinicians, and industry partners

The programme provides £50,000 up to £85,000 in funding for selected projects to support short sprint projects to de-risk critical aspects of commercialising materials-based health technologies and turning high-impact technologies into investable solutions.

By leveraging Royce’s cutting-edge capabilities, along with industry and investor networks, the programme aims to transform technologies emerging from universities and hospital settings into viable, investable solutions. This will be achieved through close collaboration with leading UK universities and several of the country’s largest NHS Trusts. It is committed to improving patient outcomes through advanced, smart medical devices, while addressing the environmental impact of medical waste, reducing healthcare costs and maximising delivery efficiency.

MATcelerate HEALTH seeks to:

• Increase the volume and quality of advanced materials investment opportunities for university translational and spin-out funds, along with private/corporate investors
• Increase the effectiveness of participating Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) and industry partners licensing teams
• Provide industry with access to breakthrough materials technologies for healthcare
• Encourage university researchers to translate research in high-priority areas by providing them with a highly effective way to engage industry
• Accelerate the real-world application of materials discovery and manufacture through commercialisation at pace

Start Your Application

TECHNOLOGY OPTIONS

• Biomaterials
• Medical Devices
• Flexible electronics e.g. sensors
• Equipment/medical instruments/Robotics
• Sustainable materials e.g. PPE/alternative packaging

TECHNOLOGY SECTORS

• Medical devices
• Digital health
• Diagnostics
• Biotechnology
• Healthcare AI

It is the responsibility of applicants to explain how their application aligns with the scope of this programme.

This programme funds projects that have total project costs of between £50,000 and £85,000.

Applications are currently only accepted from the following HEIs:

• University of Bristol
• University of Cambridge
• Imperial College London
• The University of Manchester
• University of Oxford
• University College London
• University of Liverpool
• The University of Sheffield
• University of Leeds

To be eligible, your project must:

• Start on 01 July 2026 and finish by 31 December 2026 (6 months)
• Be a collaboration between an HEI and its TTO (i.e. fully supported and only included unencumbered IP)
• Incur all Royce-funded costs within the project’s duration
• Be a new project or activity that has not already started – please note that you can re-apply using a previously submitted unsuccessful application, provided that you have effectively addressed any feedback
• Be within the scope of MATcelerate HEALTH
• Be led by either a researcher holding a permanent academic position (e.g. lecturer or equivalent) or a holder of an early career fellowship who is granted the same stature as a permanent academic staff member.

Full eligibility information, funding models and eligible costs can be found in the guidance document.

SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION

Applications must be made by using Flexigrant Portal. The application form has four parts.

Part 1: Applicant Details & Project Overview – 

You are required to include details on the applicant HEI (under ‘Lead organisation’) and the TTO (under ‘Collaborator’).

Part 2: Project Specification – 

You are required to describe your project, provide its background, and describe how it meets the scope of the scheme. Applicants are responsible for ensuring their proposals are within scope of this scheme.

You are also required to complete a budget table with proposed project costs. Use of third-party services are encouraged, and projects are requested to have already established the scope, costs, dependencies and feasibility of any work prior to application submission.

Part 3: Clinical Need, Commercial Considerations, IP and Market Dynamics – 

You are required to outline how the proposed technology addresses unmet need, as well as detailing the market/competitive landscape.

Part 4: Next Steps for Development After Funding – 

You are required to detail what further work, if any, would likely be required at the end of the project to get the technology ready for licencing or spinout formation/funding.

DEADLINE

Royce must receive applications by  5pm on 27 February 2026. You will not be able to apply after this time.

HOW WE WILL ASSESS YOUR APPLICATION

Applications will be assessed for both eligibility and quality.

After the application deadline, all applications received will be assessed against the eligibility criteria listed in Section 2 of the guidance document.

All eligible proposals will then be reviewed by the industry partners against the following criteria:

• The idea/concept
• Clarity of workplan
• Project resources and capabilities
• Impact and added value

As this is a competitive process, not all projects can be funded. Royce will provide all eligible applicants with feedback. Detailed scoring/ranking will not be provided.

Up to four projects will be shortlisted and are invited to work with an industry partner to refine their PoC project and develop a slide deck presentation for the in-person Investment Committee (IC). Project leads will have 10 minutes to pitch their project to the IC, followed by a 10-minute Q&A session.

The IC, comprised of industry partners, will evaluate the presentations and recommends funding for a decision by the Henry Royce Institute.