This summer marked two years since the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering officially opened its doors, and a good time to reflect on what we’ve achieved so far.
Recognising that innovation translated into real-world practice is of significant value to national productivity and societal impact, the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering (LIHE) opened at an opportune moment in advance of the shift in the national research funding agenda.
Against this backdrop, LIHE began its mission to become the UK’s home of MedTech innovation: a thriving ecosystem where cutting-edge technologies are brought to the bedside to improve patient outcomes. All by connecting the right stakeholders, including researchers, clinicians, innovators, industry and investors, in one physical space.
Over the past two years, we've grown into King’s College London’s MedTech innovation engine, co-locating new and established ventures and companies in a purpose-built space, and developing programmes, partnerships and community-building activities that support innovation at every stage.
This unique model for embedding innovation support within a higher education institution has now become the blueprint for King’s as part of its Strategy 2030 ambition to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, through the development of future innovation clusters and engines across the university based on the LIHE model.
Our success is not measured solely by ventures created or investment raised. We also measure success through the culture of innovation across King's and King's Health Partners, the growing confidence of colleagues engaging with entrepreneurship and industry and the collaborations formed within our ecosystem. Ultimately, however, our goal is impact: supporting innovations that improve patient care and outcomes. While LIHE is rooted in King's, our impact extends far beyond the university.
Through programmes such as the MedTech Venture Builder, we support ventures from across the UK, helping promising technologies navigate the journey from bench to bedside to boardroom. We have also started building our global reputation with four LIHE-supported ventures represented at LSI USA 2026 – a world-leading gathering of MedTech innovators, investors and strategists, as well as delivering a programme for Japanese ventures in partnership with the Japan External Trade Organisation.
We are working to strengthen the UK's MedTech and digital health sectors and contribute to a future in which academia, industry and clinicians work together to drive economic growth and address society's biggest challenges.
Thank you to our funders and supporters, partners and collaborators, and everyone who has helped shape LIHE's first two years.