Giving yourself the best chance in NIHR innovation funding applications

As an innovator, funding is essential in helping you develop your product, scale your business and gather evidence to show an innovation’s value.

The NIHR Invention for Innovation (i4i) programme aims to support the preclinical and clinical development of early-to-late stage HealthTech to progress them closer to NHS use. To be considered for the programme  medical technologies must have demonstrated proof-of-concept and address existing or emerging patient need.

As the NIHR lead for NIHR i4i in the eastern region I see plenty of applications, pitches and innovators who go on to deliver fantastic patient impact. However, I also see so many innovations fail to progress because they make common mistakes which I suspect may apply to a lot of application processes.

Here are the three most common mistakes innovators make when applying for funding (and more importantly the questions you should ask yourself to overcome them):

Failing to clearly explain the clinical problem or healthcare need and/or to provide adequate evidence of this gap.

How important is the problem?  How many people does it affect in the UK? What are the shortfalls in current care provision or clinical solutions?  What are the current outcomes?

Not adequately describing the proposed solution, including where it fits into the care pathway and how it will impact patient outcomes and the NHS.

You need to describe your proposed solution in straightforward language.  What will it do? how does it work?  Why will it deliver a more optimal outcome than current solutions?  How will it fit into the NHS care pathway?  What will it cost?  Will it save money?  Will it save lives?  Will it cut waiting lists?

Being unclear about the pathway to delivery

What is the trajectory to market-ready device?  What are the regulatory requirements required to licence your innovation as a medical device?  Where will the next tranche of funding come from?  How will take up within the NHS be driven? How will it be taken to market?

Get in touch

If you are considering making a funding application, get in touch with Health Innovation East to see how they might be able to support you. You can also come along to our Insight to Innovation Workshop for innovators to understand NIHR funding options, where I will be sharing my tips for a great application and share some case studies from previous successful applicants.