Medtech SMEs are a growing and highly innovative segment of the UK life sciences industry. There are over 3,000 UK medtech companies, 98% of which are SMEs. However, SMEs face barriers - especially when selling to the NHS (Digital Health London, 2018). To address this, several mechanisms have become available to support SMEs, one of which is through recognition and awards such as the 2019 MedTech London Conference & Awards, which Tekiu had the opportunity to attend the end of April. The MedTech London Conference & Awards was hosted by Medcity and South East Health Technologies Alliance (SEHTA), with whom we had the great honour of working on our first T-DEB Discovery Trip for our Health and Life Sciences cohort, part of Innovate UK's Newton Fund.
The evening began with networking at the arresting quarters of Hill Dickinson LLP. Dr David Parry, CEO of SEHTA, opened the evening with a witty and insightful speech introducing the work of their organisation and offering a bird’s-eye view to the London MedTech SMEs scene. The panel session "MedTech markets for tomorrow: Real Opportunities in Health & Care" sparked interest and many questions for panellists including Diana Baynsham, Head of Service Design, Digital Urgent and Emergency Care in NHS England; Paul Wallace, Clinical Director Digital at South London HIN and Emeritus Professor of Primary Care at UCL; and Daniel Casson, Digital Development Executive at Care England. We also had a privileged peak at the 3-minute video applications submitted by companies shortlisted for the 2nd Mayor of London MedTech Business Awards, which saw a record number of entries this year.
Finally, Senior Advisor to the Mayor of London, Ben Johnson, presented the awards to London’s finest MedTech companies with innovative products ranging from a mental health app for teenagers to an advanced emergency alerting and dispatching platform. Congratulations to all the winners for their innovative, collaborative, and world-leading work they do—exactly what we strive to do every day at Tekiu.
Whether they bespeak to specific sectors like The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Innovation Awards or make a nation-wide effort of acknowledging innovative business such as Lloyd Bank’s National Business Awards, awards are not just a medium of recognising and celebrating 'winners' but also encouraging other innovative businesses that are out there, slowly carving out their path in the industry to get to know one another, perhaps generating new sales, or increasing one’s market share, or sowing the seeds of a future collaboration.
