Amba wins new funding in Healthy Ageing Challenge

July 1st 2022

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has today announced that Amba is one of the winners in the £20 million Healthy Ageing Challenge.

Just 26 projects were selected by a panel of expert evaluators in a highly competitive process. Winning teams come from the private and public sector, including academia.

Amba’s CEO Stuart Hamilton said: “We are delighted to have won in this very forward thinking competition. Our mission is to keep older people safe and well, living in their own homes and this competition matches our ambition perfectly. The funding we have secured will enable us to further develop our service in collaboration with hundreds of new users including older people, family members, carers and care providers. People and organisations who are interested in participating in our 12-month project should contact us as soon as possible.”

Science Minister George Freeman said: “Today’s winning projects, backed by £20 million government funding and co-designed with older people, will pioneer the use of the latest technologies, from power-assisted exercise machines to smart navigation systems for the visually impaired, to meet the needs of Britain’s older generations. It is our firm ambition to ensure that the success of these projects also encourages businesses and academics across the country to develop ideas and technologies fit for our ageing population, improving our health and quality of life while building on the UK’s reputation as an innovation nation.”

The aims of the awards are to:

• encourage collaboration between academia and business
• support an evidence-based approach to innovation
• create more and better services which support people as they age to remain active, independent, and socially connected
• support business-led, near-to-market innovations that have potential to scale
• ensure that best practice in people-centred, inclusive design is applied
• encourage applications from businesses across the UK, by working with devolved government administrations in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

The Designed for Ageing awards are the latest to be made by the UKRI Healthy Ageing challenge.

The successful projects have committed to co-design with future users and to demonstrate progress at a ‘design stage gate’ after six months. This commitment to co-design gives the projects the greatest possible chance of success in meeting the needs of older people.

To find out more about the Healthy Ageing challenge, visit https://www.ukri.org/what-we-offer/our-main-funds/industrial-strategy-challenge-fund/ageing-society/healthy-ageing-challenge/.