STFC backs health start-ups at Daresbury Laboratory

Seven health-tech startups have joined STFC’s DeepTech Catalyst Health at Daresbury Laboratory, each aiming at a very practical problem: better diagnosis, better treatment, and less time wasted getting there. The group spans a wearable robotic arm for stroke rehabilitation, a portable eye-movement device, AI tools for hospitals, and blood-testing tech that could one day work closer to patients.

The programme sits at Sci-Tech Daresbury in the Liverpool City Region and gives early-stage companies support worth up to £70,000. That package includes access to AI and prototyping facilities, business guidance, and intellectual property support. It launched in 2024 with £1.8 million from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority Innovation Zone Programme, and STFC says it is part of the wider North West Health Cluster.

The new arrivals show how broad “health innovation” has become. UKind XR is building trauma-informed VR and AI support for the wait before therapy. Eyetech Innovations is working on a portable device to measure eye movement excursions for neurological and ophthalmic conditions. HMA Technologies is developing a wearable robotic arm support for stroke survivors, while Beyond Blood is pairing artificial intelligence with advanced microfluidics for portable blood testing.

The list keeps going. Asika is building AI agents to automate administrative workflows in hospitals and clinics. CCI Photonics is working on an AI-enhanced diagnostic platform that uses infrared light to detect infections at the point of care. InformiX Pharma is using advanced 3D X-ray imaging to help pharmaceutical companies understand how medicines are structured.

STFC says the point is not just science for science’s sake. The organisation wants these companies to move faster from lab work to usable products, and it ties that to jobs, patient outcomes, and the UK’s deep tech position. The DeepTech Catalyst, which dates back to 2011, has already supported more than 230 startups, with more than £720 million raised in private investment and over 1,100 high-skilled jobs created.