TLA & GTA HealthTec­h Investor Showcase

On the day, Here East’s innovation centre, Plexal, welcomed over 200 investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers and researchers across the industry to spotlight the UK’s global leadership in healthtech innovation.

Kicking off the day’s proceedings, Oli Barrett MBE set the tone for an afternoon of dynamic discussion and deal-making, followed by opening remarks from Tech London Advocates Founder Russ Shaw CBE on the UK’s unique healthtech proposition.

In a host address, Mike Magan, Chief Operating Officer at Here East, discussed the role of local innovation hubs in fueling technological progress, saying:

“The UK has long been at the forefront of healthtech innovation, with a thriving startup ecosystem helping to answer some of the sector’s biggest questions. At Here East, we believe in the power of clusters to scale this impact, creating the environment where academia, industry and policymakers can come together to bring new ideas to market.”

Beauhurst’s Henry Whorwood offered a compelling look into the current UK investment landscape, revealing strong levels of activity in the healthtech sector and calling attention to the opportunity for long-term, patient capital to drive impact at scale.

Next came a series of fireside chats and panels that covered the full healthtech spectrum, including a panel moderated by Oli Barrett on the modern spinout journey for healthtech companies, alongside:

● Caroline Cake, CEO of the healthtech platform Neu Health

● Heather Roxborough, Senior Partner, Health Tech, Oxford Science Enterprises

● Jason O’Malley, Chief of Commercial Operations, Vorboss

The group of experts outlined what is needed today to bridge the spinout journey, including what’s needed to bridge the valley of death between research and commercialised real-world impact.

A panel titled “HealthTech & Life Sciences: A UK Growth Opportunity” brought together:

● Dominick Kennerson, Senior Vice President of HealthTech at HSBC Innovation Banking

● Dr Robert Hornby, Investment Director at Mercia Ventures

● Dr Angela Kukula, Chief Executive of MedCity

They discussed the sector’s critical role in driving economic impact and how to drive stronger capital flow and instill better support across the ecosystem.

The conversation then turned to what’s next for the sector, featuring:

● Alex Merwin, Head of Growth for Healthcare and Life Sciences Startups at AWS

● Dr Rebecca Allam, Co-founder and CEO of PreActiv

● Soren Demin, Managing Director and Head of M&A at PharmaVentures

Together, the panel unpacked the next frontier in healthtech innovation – from scaling infrastructure to unlocking international expansion.

In the final fireside chat, moderated by Dr Lisa Page, Partner at Penningtons Manches Cooper, she quizzed Steve Bates OBE, Chief Executive of the BioIndustry Association, and Dr Janak Gunatilleke, Head of Health Data and Analytics at KPMG, on how the UK can build a globally competitive biotech and healthtech ecosystem.

The discussion addressed the importance of harnessing data, shaping effective regulation, and forging global partnerships to sustain long-term growth.

Closing remarks by Russ Shaw wrapped up an afternoon full of insight, and was followed by a buzzing networking reception.

At Here East, collaboration is at the heart of what we strive to achieve, providing opportunities for like-minded people to connect. Events like these are a crucial platform, not just for celebrating progress or sharing advice, but forging the partnerships that will shape the next wave of innovation.