London benefits from excellence and expertise within academia, industry and the National Health Service (NHS) and is a dynamic hub for spinouts, scaling companies and investment.
Venture capital investment into healthtech companies in London has grown 11.1 times since 2016, faster than in the Bay Area, New York and Boston.
Home to world-leading universities, hospitals and an expansive patient pool, the region is a growing engine room for translational and experimental medicine, with several National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centres sitting between academia and the NHS and three of England’s Academic Health Sciences Centres.
An innovation hub for life sciences & healthtech
Discover London's strengths for AI in life sciences and healthtech.
The Golden Triangle
- London sits at the heart of the Cambridge, London and Oxford Golden Triangle within the greater south east of England, providing an outstanding entry point to the UK market, supported by MedCity, which provides a front door to the region’s life sciences capability.
- The area is home to the strongest biosciences cluster in Europe of more than 3,700 companies, with industry spanning everything from advanced therapies to digital technologies and AI.
- The Golden Triangle is home to 724 healthtech startups, who have received VC funding since 2016, the biggest cluster outside of the Bay Area (1,112).
- $5.7bn of investment has been attracted by the Golden Triangle between 2016 and 2021, forming 25% of total European healthtech investment and 65% of the UK's. [1]
Ecosystem
- Internet of Things, a core technology for new medical devices, is one of London's many offerings, with the Internet of Medical Things valued at an estimated $158bn. The medtech industry designs and manufactures a wide realm of goods, ranging from fertility products to surgical instruments and artificial joints to MRI scanners.
- More than 180 accelerators and incubators can bring tech solutions to life in London, including the Grow London Global, Entrepreneur First, MedTech SuperConnector and DigitalHealth.London.
- The Accelerator is a year-long programme, designed to support digital health companies with products or services that could solve challenges facing the NHS.
- MedCity is a not-for-profit organisation that facilitates and supports the identification and utilisation of opportunities within London's healthcare landscape, and uses networking and research and development to generate innovation.
- London is home to Europe's largest healthtech company, Babylon Health.
A gateway to academic excellence and talent
- Four of 16 UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funded Centres for Doctoral Training in AI and Healthcare are in London.
- London is a base for world-renowned academic excellence, providing sought-after depth and breadth of knowledge. The city is home to five medical schools, three dental schools and institutions including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and The Institute of Cancer Research.
- UCL, Imperial College London and King’s College London are in the top 40 universities for life sciences and medicine globally.[2]
- The UCL Institute of Digital Health brings together world-class researchers across the university to deliver transformational interdisciplinary research across the health sciences, human sciences and data sciences.
- King’s College London Digital Health Network fosters collaboration across departments, schools and faculties, allowing for a greater range of unique research on the social, ethical, and political aspects of digital health that addresses real-world problems.
A powerhouse for research and development
- London offers 140 specialist services[3] and 34 acute trusts, including Great Ormond Street, Guy's and St Thomas and the Royal Marsden.[4]
- The city is home to a diverse community of 8.3 million patients, a third of whom were born outside of the UK.
- London has a developing landscape for innovation support and infrastructure, including the life sciences and healthcare clusters at the King’s Cross Knowledge Quarter, Imperial's White City campus, the London Cancer Hub and Whitechapel.
See a snapshot of London's life sciences scene
Use the filters in the map to discover the city's ecosystem.
Discover some of London's life sciences success stories
How we can help
London & Partners and MedCity can help you to:
- Navigate London’s ecosystem.
- Connect with academia, industry and the NHS.
- Access potential partners and investment opportunities.
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