UKTCG launches first Investor Corridor Leeds event for West Yorkshire

This event will position Leeds as a growing hub for global health and life sciences innovation.

Run by the UK Tech Cluster Group (UKTCG), the event in Leeds on December 4 is designed to open up access to investment networks often concentrated in London and the South East. It will provide a platform for emerging health and medical technology startups with an AI and data focus from across West Yorkshire to pitch their innovations, share progress and gain feedback.

The Investor Corridor event is delivered through the Government’s Regional Tech Booster programme, which supports regional tech ecosystems to scale and attract outside investment. The Leeds showcase will be followed by events in Bristol and Edinburgh in 2026, each of these three major UK cities chosen for their thriving regional tech hubs and deep sector ties.

Research in 2024 found that as a tech hub, Leeds is growing 125% faster than the national average, with an annual growth rate of 3.6% compared to 1.6%. On top of that, more than £675 million in health research funding has been secured by Leeds institutions since 2009.

Minister Narayan, Minister for AI and Digital Government, said: "The talent and innovation in West Yorkshire's healthtech sector has the potential to transform lives across the country.

“By connecting brilliant founders with the investment they need to grow, we're not just backing businesses – we're backing better healthcare, faster diagnoses, and treatments that will directly benefit patients and their families."

Ben Shorrock, Director of UK Tech Cluster Group and leading on the Investment Corridor project, said: “This Investor Corridor event is a vital opportunity to shine a light on the exceptional healthtech talent sector in West Yorkshire.

“The region has become a well-established hub for healthcare innovation and digital transformation, built on strong links between the NHS, universities and local startups. By bringing in leading venture capital investors from London and the South East, we’re helping to bridge the gap between regional potential and national investment flow.

“It’s about levelling the playing field, ensuring ambitious founders from all parts of the UK can access the right capital and connections to scale globally. Leeds is already a hub for health innovation, and this showcase will demonstrate exactly why investors should be paying attention.”

Leeds is a nationally significant centre for health innovation and digital technology. It hosts seven national health bodies, including NHS England, NHS Digital, the UK Health Security Agency, alongside MHRA’s digital hub, giving it a unique concentration of policy, infrastructure, and leadership in health and care delivery. This has positioned Leeds and West Yorkshire as a leading location for the development and deployment of digital health, medical devices, and data-driven healthcare solutions.

The city’s innovation ecosystem is anchored by institutions such as Nexus at the University of Leeds, which connects academic research with commercial ventures. Leeds is also part of the West Yorkshire Innovation Arc, alongside Bradford, Huddersfield, and Wakefield - a cluster focused on translational research and commercial adoption. The city of Leeds is also host to the Leeds Digital Festival, the largest open-platform tech event in the UK.

Designated a High Potential Opportunity (HPO) area for wound care and regenerative medicine, Leeds supports a growing base of healthtech SMEs, medtech manufacturers and biotech researchers. The city has well-established strengths in health informatics and health data governance, supported by digitally mature NHS trusts and strong public-private collaboration.

Over £675 million in health research funding has been secured by Leeds institutions since 2009, and the region provides real-world testing and validation through environments like Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the NIHR Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, and the Innovation Pop-Up at Leeds General Infirmary.

Some of the already-funded innovative healthtech startups in West Yorkshire include:

• MediMusic uses AI to generate therapeutic music playlists for reducing patient stress and pain (£1.77M raised).
• Digital Autopsy enables non-invasive postmortems through CT imaging and advanced software (£1.11M raised).
• Elaros provides handheld digital diagnostic tools for urinary and patient self-assessment (£777K raised).
• TestCard – transforms smartphones into diagnostic readers with at-home test kits (£23.7M raised).
• Little Journey develops mobile platforms that ease anxiety in paediatric care using immersive digital content (£10M raised).
• Eventum provides the QuadSense device that helps surgeons precisely cut and place the kneecap in total knee replacements (£7.7m raised).

Together, these companies reflect the depth and maturity of Leeds Series A pipeline — combining clinical insight, digital capability, and investment readiness across diagnostics, therapeutics and patient engagement.

The Investment Corridor full-day event will include meetings with investors; networking lunch, Round Table discussions; a panel talk followed by networking drinks.