The UK has the ingredients to become a global hub for mental health innovation: world-class research, a thriving digital tech sector, an integrated NHS, and major new investments.
Government reforms are accelerating the shift from analogue to digital care, strengthening data and AI infrastructure, and positioning the NHS as an active partner in testing and adopting new technologies.
With coordinated leadership and practical delivery capacity, the UK can turn these assets into a joined-up pipeline that moves ideas from research to real-world use, creating investable, globally competitive mental health technologies.
The opportunity is clear, but the system is siloed.
Mental health conditions cost the UK an estimated £300 billion a year, yet many promising technologies never reach patients.
Research-driven mental-health innovations often stall before commercialisation, while market-led products often lack evidence or NHS alignment.
Too many fall through a ‘valley of death’ between research and adoption, held back by misaligned public-private funding and fragmented systems that prevent proven technologies from being consistently evaluated, rapidly adopted, and scaled globally.
To realise the UK’s potential and deliver on the NHS 10-Year Plan’s digital ambitions, the sector needs joined-up leadership and delivery capacity to connect research, investment, and implementation.
MindTech Bridge is a national innovation catalyst closing the gap between world-class digital mental health research, healthcare adoption, and sustainable investment.
It is supported by the Office for Life Sciences and the Medical Research Council and is part of the Mental Health Goals programme.
We fill the UK’s ‘missing middle’ between research, adoption, and investment, building new infrastructure, models, and partnerships to turn high-quality research into scalable technologies that improve lives, attract investment, and expand globally.
Our work focuses on four priorities:
Hosted by NIHR MindTech, we build on over a decade of its digital mental health leadership and networks to create a trusted platform connecting researchers, lived experience experts, innovators, investors, and healthcare leaders to test ideas and drive impact.
MindTech Bridge works alongside Health Innovation Networks, NIHR HealthTech Research Centres, and other system partners to tackle structural barriers that prevent mental health innovations from commercialising, attracting investment, and achieving healthcare adoption.
By addressing cross-sector barriers, we’re creating models that redefine how the UK turns research into impact, in mental health and beyond.
Our leadership team brings together deep clinical, commercial, investment, and research experience from across the UK innovation ecosystem.
Clinician and academic psychiatrist at the University of Nottingham, and founder of the NIHR MindTech HealthTech Research Centre. Chris is an international leader in digital mental health and has advanced the adoption of evidence-based technologies across the NHS and global healthcare systems.
Engineer and entrepreneur with over two decades’ experience in assistive and health technology. Barnaby has designed award-winning assistive technologies for people with complex disabilities before moving into mental health technology, first as the Founding CEO of Cambridge-based ieso, and later as the CEO of Oxford University spin-out Oxford VR. He is now CEO of St John’s Innovation Centre.
Mental health researcher, Chief Scientific Officer, and commercialisation specialist with experience spanning academia, government, investment, and industry. Aaron has held roles at UCL, the Wellcome Trust, the Department of Health and Social Care, Zinc VC, juli Health, Healthline, and the Mental Health Foundation, informing a system-wide perspective on developing, funding, and scaling evidence-based innovations and strengthening collaboration across sectors.
Investor with extensive experience in deep tech and health innovation. Robert co-founded Par Equity in 2008, a venture capital firm specialising in IP-rich deep tech companies, which merged with Praetura Ventures in 2025 to form PXN. With a career spanning Europe and the U.S., he has led hardware, software, and communications innovation, built digital health ventures, and serves on multiple investment committees and company boards.
We’re building a national platform for collaboration across research, healthcare, and industry, and we’re looking for partners who share our mission.
We welcome engagement from NHS organisations, funders, investors, innovators, and system leaders who can help us shape and deliver this work.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.