Since its launch in 2017, the ABHI US Accelerator has become the flagship international growth programme for UK HealthTech innovators
Designed to help UK companies navigate the complexities of the US healthcare system, the initiative has supported over 100 businesses with their export strategies–facilitating commercial success, clinical partnerships, and increasingly, reciprocal investment back into the UK. At a time when global collaboration in healthcare is more vital than ever, the programme is also delivering benefits much closer to home, particularly for the NHS.
A springboard for UK HealthTech
Delivered by the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI), the US Accelerator helps UK companies establish and grow in the world’s largest health market. Participants receive year-long support, including tailored advice, mentoring from in-market experts, and introductions to decision-makers across hospitals, investors, and supply chain partners.
A key part of the programme is the series of trade missions to leading health ecosystems across the US. These visits – now taking in States such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, California, Tennessee and more – enable participants to meet with potential customers and collaborators face-to-face, often resulting in new commercial partnerships and clinical studies.
The value of this real-world engagement cannot be overstated. In a highly competitive market like the US, having a structured route to trusted networks is transformative. Over the past seven years, the programme has helped secure multiple distribution deals, pilots, and even permanent US operations for UK HealthTech businesses. For companies navigating reimbursement pathways or navigating complex state-level procurement processes, these partnerships often prove crucial to success.
Driving innovation for the NHS
While the programme’s primary focus is international expansion, the benefits for the NHS are also clear. Several participating companies have been able to refine their technologies with US clinical partners and bring those improvements back to the UK. Others have secured investment and market insights that have helped them scale domestically, offering improved tools and services to NHS institutions.
Crucially, many of the technologies within the Accelerator address challenges shared by both US and UK health systems – like early diagnosis, surgical efficiency, digital transformation, and remote care. By gaining traction abroad, these solutions gain the credibility and capital needed to expand at home.
One example is the increasing number of UK companies that have entered strategic partnerships with US hospital systems to undertake clinical trials, generating real-world evidence that has supported NHS adoption. In doing so, these businesses bring home not just commercial success, but new capabilities and data that can support value-based procurement and more personalised care for NHS patients.
Reciprocal investment and international collaboration
Beyond exports, the ABHI US Accelerator has also stimulated inward investment into the UK. A growing number of US-based health systems and investors are now looking to the UK as a hub for innovation and partnership, and in 2024, the programme helped host the Governor of New Jersey in London, where high-level meetings took place with healthcare leaders and HealthTech entrepreneurs.
Such partnerships not only drive innovation, but also contribute to the UK economy, create jobs, and enhance the global visibility of British healthcare expertise.
“The ABHI US Accelerator has always been about more than just export – it is about building meaningful partnerships that deliver real benefits on both sides of the Atlantic,” says Paul Benton, managing director, International at ABHI. “We are proud to be helping UK companies succeed in the US, but just as importantly, we are seeing how these connections are enhancing innovation and care back in the NHS.”
NHS–US links: a two-way street
The US and UK face many similar health challenges, from managing chronic conditions to deploying digital technologies at scale. The Accelerator provides a platform for shared learning, where NHS clinicians and executives can see how US providers are implementing HealthTech solutions, and vice versa.
For example, NHS partners involved in past missions have observed best practice in areas such as integrated care, virtual wards, and AI deployment in diagnostics – insights which have informed their own local innovations. Similarly, US providers benefit from the UK’s strengths in population health management and its robust clinical research infrastructure.
In turn, UK companies in the programme frequently leverage their NHS credentials to build credibility overseas, and the ability to demonstrate efficacy and value within the NHS environment is a powerful tool for companies when entering new markets.
Strategic alignment and future growth
Looking ahead, the ABHI US Accelerator is aligning more closely with the UK’s broader industrial strategy, supporting government priorities around economic growth, exports, and inward investment. It also reflects the ambitions set out in the Life Sciences Vision, particularly in fostering adoption and scaling of innovation.
In 2025, the programme will continue to expand, offering tailored support. And through ABHI’s network of in-market experts and hospital partners, companies will gain bespoke insights into local reimbursement, procurement, and clinical integration.
The NHS, as a key stakeholder in the health innovation ecosystem, stands to benefit directly from this pipeline of globally-validated technologies and partnerships. In many cases, the lessons and relationships gained via the US Accelerator feed directly back into UK-based care improvements, workforce support, and health system efficiencies.
A platform for global leadership
At its core, the ABHI US Accelerator is a powerful example of how trade and health innovation can go hand-in-hand. By helping UK companies succeed abroad, we are also strengthening the foundations for innovation at home – bringing back investment, insight, and new tools to support patients and healthcare professionals across the NHS.
As global health systems grapple with rising demand and constrained resources, it is partnerships, between countries, sectors, and companies, that will define the next era of care. Programmes like the ABHI US Accelerator are enabling the UK to lead that charge, with HealthTech at its heart.
www.abhi.org.uk
