The CHAI Catalyst Competition is offering three £50,000 seed awards to help early-stage healthcare AI innovations progress towards real-world testing and commercial readiness. Projects should move from proof of concept at TRL 3 towards TRL 5 over 6–12 months.
The competition focuses on causal AI in healthcare, including causal inference, counterfactual modelling, explainability and trustworthy AI. Projects must demonstrate potential to deliver economic and/or societal impact in the UK.
Eligible lead applicants must be UK residents and either academic employees at eligible institutions, including universities, research organisations, UKRI institutes, Catapults and NHS bodies, or university students/postdoctoral researchers. Lead applicants must not currently own or operate a registered business.
Funding can support commercialisation, entrepreneurship, partnership and impact development, helping promising healthcare AI innovations move closer to practical application and potential routes to market through start-ups, spinouts or commercial licensing.
Applications opened on 2 November 2026 and close at 11.59pm on 2 December 2026. Ten finalists will be shortlisted for a live pitching competition at the Royal Society in London on 25 March 2027, with pitching support and business mentorship provided ahead of the event.
Location: UK
Value: £50,000
Grant Deadline: 02-12-2026