Proof of Market funding supports early-stage projects to assess commercial potential before significant technical development investment.
Use these funds to understand user needs, analyse the competitive landscape and evaluate market size.
This stage is designed for projects that have completed fundamental underpinning research and are looking to ascertain how far their innovation addresses a real, unmet clinical and commercial need.
Review these criteria carefully before beginning your application. Projects must meet all eligibility requirements to progress to full assessment.
Work to establish a market or clinical need, including market research, competitor technology analysis, IP reviews, regulatory strategy, studies to obtain external commercial, clinical or patient opinions.
Outcomes from these studies should establish need and provide a plan to progress the technology or concept towards commercialisation.
Applications follow a two-stage process. Round 6 impact funding is now open for applications, as follows:
First, submit an Intention to Submit form by 31 July 2026. This brief form (approximately 10 minutes to complete) allows for early engagement and enables the review process. Everyone who completes an Intention to Submit by the deadline is eligible to move to full application.
You will receive an application reference number from us in response to your completed Intention to Submit. Use this reference number when submitting your full application.
Your full application must be submitted by 5pm on Mon 31 August 2026.
We use one standard application form for Proof of Market and Proof of Feasibility applications – download the application form and guidance document below. These provide detailed instructions on completing each section.
Further support is also available in our upcoming webinars and previous recordings hosted on our YouTube channel.
We will be running a further impact funding round between September – November 2026 (Round 7), with final closing date for that round of Mon 30 November.
There may be one final call in Spring 2027 subject to funding availability. Please complete our contact form to register for updates if you’re interested in later rounds.
Comprehensive guidance covering eligibility and application requirements. Please ensure you review this in full before making your application.
Required first step for all applicants. Complete this form by 5pm on 31 July. You will receive an application reference number in response, which is needed for your full application.
Detailed application form to be completed and submitted by 5pm on Mon 31 August. Requires the application reference number you received in response to your Intention to Submit.
We’re hosting two webinars to support applicants to Round 6 impact funding, on 22 June and 13 July. To join either or both, please register using the link below
The Proof of Market project enabled us to evaluate and prioritise two potential applications for our medical technology and develop concrete IP protection plans. We now have something that we consider a solid market foundation on which we can base further technical development as well as proof of feasibility. It has also helped to facilitate engagement with our institutional research and innovation service, and we expect the outputs of the project will help us to facilitate engagement with co-development partners and investors.
The Proof of Market project enabled us to evaluate and prioritise two potential applications for our medical technology and develop concrete IP protection plans. We now have something that we consider a solid market foundation on which we can base further technical development as well as proof of feasibility.
It has also helped to facilitate engagement with our institutional research and innovation service, and we expect the outputs of the project will help us to facilitate engagement with co-development partners and investors.
I think the Proof of Market is a great place to start if you’re relatively new to commercialisation. It helps build familiarity with important considerations for translating your research (like value propositions) and provides the foundation and evidence you’ll need to be successful in later stages.
If you are requesting funding for 100% of your time as a postdoc, it’s possible for your project to run past the end of your current contract as Yorkshire MedTech can fund your time (this is not the case for academics).
If however you are requesting funding for only part of your time e.g. 50%, then the project will need to be completed within the timeframe of your existing contract of employment. In any case line manager approval will be needed. We do ask that you have a Co-investigator who is permanent member of academic staff to make sure that there is some continuity in case you get a job elsewhere so the piece of work can continue.
Commercial partnerships aren’t required for Proof of Market applications. For Proof of Market and Proof of Feasibility projects, external support or commissioned pieces of work may be necessary. In all cases, external consultancy/support can be included in the costing. If you have existing commercial contacts, mention them in your application, but formal partnerships aren’t necessarily expected at this stage.
Projects must start within 6 months of the award date
Yorkshire MedTech does not fund IP protection but you can request funds for IP reviews as part of your Proof of Market project. All partner universities have experienced IP and commercialisation teams that can ensure relevant IP is appropriately protected and explored, and you are strongly encouraged to engage with your university team at an early stage in the process.
This represents successful use of the funding. Market validation sometimes reveals that an innovation doesn’t address a genuine need or faces insurmountable barriers. This learning prevents wasteful investment in technical development and allows you to redirect efforts toward more promising opportunities. We value honest assessment and view ‘fail-fast’ findings as legitimate outcomes.
We assess each application independently. If you have multiple distinct projects at different development stages, you can submit separate applications. Each must stand alone and meet eligibility criteria for its target stage.
We encourage resubmissions, we will provide feedback to applications and encourage those projects which could be funded in future rounds with some amendments to resubmit.
Representatives from both Leeds and Sheffield universities as well as our wider project partners e.g. Medipex and industry to allow for a breadth of expertise in assessing applications.
If your project is focused on data processing of existing clinical data to create a new AI method then this wouldn’t be in scope. However if you are using AI as part of a diagnostic or therapeutic device that would need to go down the regulatory route to get to market then yes this would be in scope. We encourage anyone with queries on this to contact the team via pbiaa@leeds.ac.uk
Medipex and other organisations such as Medilink offer specialist advice for MedTech innovators, with a deep knowledge of the regulatory and market conditions within the sector. We still actively encourage you to work with your university commercialisation teams for IP advice, whilst external support is intended to provide more targeted MedTech-specific advice.
No, businesses and commercial entities cannot apply as the project lead. Our impact project funding is specifically designed to accelerate the translation of research originating from UK universities or eligible NHS Trusts. This means the lead applicant must be an academic or NHS clinician. However, we actively encourage industry collaboration, and our funding offers a fantastic opportunity for UK institutions to partner with Yorkshire’s world-leading medical technologies companies in support of activities such as out-licencing or scale up manufacturing of products.
For a partnership to be eligible, the business takes the role of a collaborator rather than the project lead. Our IP terms are such that, except for third party consultant or subcontractors, all intellectual property shall belong to the party that generates them. The use of any foreground IP generated by a university or NHS partner would require a commercial licence to be negotiated.
Careful consideration for businesses based outside of the Yorkshire region will be needed on how growth of the Yorkshire region MedTech economy can be demonstrated through the project, this might include opening a new business site or relocating to Yorkshire.
If your company has already spun out and is legally registered as a business, it is classified as a commercial entity. Therefore, the spin-out itself cannot lead an application but is welcome to join the bid as a project collaborator alongside an academic or clinical lead where there would be benefit for the university or Trust in translation of engineering and physical sciences-related research, beyond benefits for the company.
As above, a commercial licence to any IP arising from a university or Trust would be required should the spin-out wish to make use of this.
Our team can answer eligibility questions and provide guidance on strengthening your application.