Am I eligible?

Smart Scale is designed for founders building real solutions in health and life sciences. This includes, for example:

• Digital health products such as remote monitoring tools, virtual care platforms, digital therapeutics, or workflow support tools

• Prevention and wellbeing solutions (population health tools, behaviour change products, specialist coaching platforms)

• Diagnostics, including AI enabled screening tools or point of care innovation

• Medtech, early hardware, and connected devices that are starting to find their first adopters

• Public health innovation such as community analytics, service delivery tools, or health inequalities platforms

• Health data companies working with analytics, clinical decision support, or patient reported data

We’re looking for founders that are running businesses with active users, early customers, or a pilot that shows your direction. You’re a fit if:

• You’re already trading, piloting, or delivering

• You have real feedback and real questions about what’s next

• You’re leading the business, possibly solo or with a small team

• You’re aware that how you build now will shape everything that comes next

No.

It’s a fully funded programme, delivered by SETsquared Bath and the University of Bath Innovation & Entrepreneurship team, with support from NatWest.

• A 1:1 diagnostic call before you begin to shape the content around your needs

• Expert-led weekly themed sessions in Bristol or Bath (hybrid access + recordings available)

• Peer roundtables and honest founder stories (not just sanitised case studies)

• 1:1 access to expert advisors across commercial, legal, HR, regulatory, and funding

• Tools like StrengthsFinder and Venture Hub to support your thinking and planning

• Access to local support ecosystems for specific needs like compliance, team building, or international growth

Each week focuses on real decisions founders are facing, rather than theory.

We’ll look at:

• Testing current assumptions without losing momentum

• Reducing dependence on one customer, partner, or sales channel

• What “team” means now. Hiring, partnering, or staying lean

• Navigating sales without losing your voice or chasing the wrong buyers

• What your product is becoming and what it means for the strategy

• Moving from “doing everything” to leading the business

• Defining growth that makes sense for your goals, not someone else’s playbook

Over 90 days, you’ll:

• Create a founder-specific plan shaped around your goals and business model

• Rethink your commercial strategy beyond early pilots or grant wins

• Get input on hiring, structure, partnerships, and long-term focus

• Access 1:1 support from legal, regulatory, HR, and finance advisors

• Understand how your own leadership style impacts how the business grows

• Connect with other founders in the same phase and stop building in isolation

This is time, tools, and sharp perspective you can actually use.

The cohort starts from 5th March. Application close on 14th February. Please apply as soon as possible if interested!

The diagnostic call is a 45-minute conversation to understand your current position, priorities and goals. It allows us to shape the programme content around the real needs of participants, rather than assuming a fixed structure. Founders are expected to have a view of what support would be most valuable.

Not quite.

There is no pitch day, no equity taken, and no performative milestones.
Smart Scale is a focused, practical programme to help you grow your business - not a showcase.

No.

You might be solo, with contractors, or leading a small team.
We’ll help you figure out what your business needs next, without pushing you to hire prematurely.

If you’ve launched something real, have customers or pilots, and are thinking seriously about what’s next then this is for you.

No.
We work with a wide range of founders across health innovation - digital health, diagnostics, prevention, public health, data, and more. If you’re building something that improves health outcomes, this is for you.

Yes.

Especially if sales currently feel slow, weird, or misaligned with your values. We’ll focus on commercial strategies that make sense in health and life sciences, where sales cycles are longer and more complex.

No.

Most sessions happen in person in Bristol or Bath. You’ll get the most value by attending these.
Recordings and hybrid access are available if needed.

9:30 - 12:00, 5th March - Induction, Finding your strengths & IP

9:30 - 12:00, 12th March - Headspace

9:30 - 12:00, 19th March - Mapping the tech landscape & Founder Fireside

9:30 - 12:00, 26th March - Mapping your strengths & Building a board

9:30 - 12:00, 2nd April - online - Data and Customer Management

9:30 - 12:00, 9th April - online - Sales strategy & evening drop in session

9:30 - 12:00, 14th April - Sustainable business models

9:30 - 12:00, 21st April - The power of collaboration

9:30 - 12:00, 28th April - How to ask for money & NatWest funding review

9:30 - 12:00, 5th May - online - Marketing strategy & Regulation

9:30 - 12:00, 12th May - Story Led Speaking - from pitches to keynotes

9:30 - 12:00, 19th May - online - the 90 day roadmap & founder fireside

9:30 - 12:00, 26th May - 2 evening drop in sessions, topics TBC

9:30 - 12:00, 2nd June - Review/ reflect/ plan next steps

*All in person sessions will be delivered from the NatWest Hub in Bristol.
*This outline is intended as a high-level framework. Topics may be added or adjusted based on insights gathered during attendee discovery calls.

We’re planning for one in-person session per week across the 90-day period - a mix of group sessions, one-to-one support and optional peer roundtables. The programme will be designed to integrate with your existing commitments. Final scheduling is shaped in collaboration with the cohort.

We know you’re busy.

Sessions are recorded, and hybrid options are available. You’ll get the most from the programme by showing up, but it’s designed to work around your business, not compete with it.

Yes, we know some topics will have different audiences. While, for peer connectivity, we’d like a lead member of the team to attend the majority of the sessions, you are welcome to send other team members where appropriate. Please let us know in advance if attendance will vary.

You stay connected.
You’ll join the SETsquared founder network and get ongoing access to events, peers, and support.

The University of Bath is the UK’s leading university for sport and has deep strengths in health, wellbeing, and human performance. We support a growing network of health-related ventures - through spinouts, alumni, and the SETsquared partnership. This programme builds on that foundation, with a focus on applied support for founders preparing to scale.

We have to start somewhere.

We’re designing this around what founders actually need at this stage. Being part of the first cohort gives you more input, more flexibility, and a say in shaping what comes next.