Pioneers addressing childbirth safety, cancer and weight loss among the Innovate UK winners

Health and femtech entrepreneurs are well represented in this year’s funded awards for female founders from the UK’s innovation agency.

Innovate UK, the government-backed body that supports new products and services, has announced its Women in Innovation Awards.

Among the 50 winners that each receive a £75k grant, support and coaching, are a number of femtech and health-tech pioneers.

They include Emma Yates, founder of Proteotype Diagnostics, which aims to transform early-stage cancer detection with its Enlighten test. This low-cost method uses the patient’s immune response, which is strongest at the onset of cancer. By enabling earlier diagnoses, it reduces mortality rates and supports more personalised treatment plans.

Also winning the award is Divya Varma of BirthGlide, which is developing medical devices to improve childbirth safety. In the UK, 30 per cent of new mothers require an assisted vaginal birth (forceps or ventouse). BirthGlide’s affordable, easy-to-use device aims to reduce these emergencies, lowering hospital costs, preventing trauma, and saving lives.

Other health-focused winners include:

• Georgia Fleet of Zonova – an enterprise tackling the global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis by adding antimicrobial properties to medical devices like catheters and sutures. This innovation prevents infections, reducing the need for antibiotics and improving patient outcomes.
• Bridgeen Callan of KLAS-Therapeutics – a firm developing a low-cost, non-invasive treatment for aggressive skin cancer. KLAS-Therapeutics has unlocked photodynamic therapy for metastatic melanoma, offering hope for patients with what is considered to be the most serious type of skin cancerand the fifth most common cancer in the UK.
• Daniela Mercado Beivide of Holly Health; which is combining psychology and technology for long-term weight management. Her mindfulness-based platform, which addresses the psychological factors behind eating behaviours, already supports over 30,000 users across 200+ NHS GP practices, with 86% adopting healthier habits within eight weeks.

Since launching in 2016, the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards have invested over £11m in 200 women innovators.

Dr Stella Peace, interim executive chair of Innovate UK, said: “By breaking down barriers and amplifying diverse voices, Innovate UK are fostering a more inclusive and dynamic ecosystem that drives progress across all sectors.

“This programme is about more than funding – it’s about creating role models, building networks, and inspiring the next generation of women innovators to dream big and transform our world.”