Following seven months of development and testing, three local businesses have today been announced as the winners of the Mayor’s big ideas challenge.
The challenge was launched by Mayor Tracy Brabin in February 2025 to accelerate innovative solutions, products or services to overcome health inequalities among communities in West Yorkshire. In July 2025, 19 finalists of the Mayor’s big ideas challenge were selected and awarded £20,000 each as well as a package of support to accelerate the development of their solutions.
Today, the three winning teams have each been awarded £100,000 to support the commercialisation of their products:
- Asclepius MedTech Ltd developed Surgfit: a remote monitoring system to help hospitals deliver safer and more effective surgical care.
- Harmonai Hub created an AI-powered wellbeing platform for carers, offering personalised support and empowering mental health, resilience and connection.
- Mind Body Goals developed Luma³ Editions, that offers breathwork and mindfulness techniques, providing accessible, preventative mental wellbeing support.
West Yorkshire is a hotbed of innovation and is recognised for developing an open, inclusive, thriving ecosystem, where SMEs, budding entrepreneurs and individuals are inspired to innovate. For this reason, the challenge was aimed at SMEs across the region, empowering those closest to the issue to drive change. Tracy Brabin, Mayor of West Yorkshire, said: “Our region is home to endless talent, creativity and ambition, and today I’m thrilled to announce the three winners of our Big Ideas Challenge.
“Each team will now receive £100,000 to accelerate the development of their lifechanging technologies – boosting health and wellbeing throughout West Yorkshire, and creating good skilled jobs in our region. By investing in innovation and backing the entrepreneurs who are determined to make a difference, we’re building a stronger, brighter West Yorkshire that works for all.” By innovating to overcome regional health inequalities, the Mayor’s big ideas challenge is actively supporting the UK Government’s 10 Year Health Plan*, which will see the NHS move from treatment to prevention to alleviate pressure on frontline services.
While all winners have developed different products, they share the common goal of combatting health inequalities across West Yorkshire. Led by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, the initiative has been delivered by global challenge expert, Challenge Works. Kathy Nothstine, Director of Cities and Societies, Challenge Works, said: “We received over 100 eligible entries, whittled these down to 19 incredible prospects, and today celebrate three winning solutions that have been designed with the community’s best interests at heart.
“The diverse range of solutions highlights the incredible drive of regional SMEs to solve local challenges, and the extent of what is possible through innovation and ingenuity. They also illustrate the power of open innovation challenges. By levelling the playing field for innovators, through an open competition, seed funding and expert capacity building support, challenge prizes enable diverse approaches to a problem.
“These winning innovations have the power to change West Yorkshire’s trajectory – and demonstrate the power of SMEs to deliver a more accessible and resilient health ecosystem.” With £21 spent per person on health innovation and research in the North, compared to a £62 average in the golden triangle of London, Oxford and Cambridge, health outcomes vary widely. Those living in the North of England are 20% more likely to die early; life expectancy in Yorkshire and the Humber stands at one year and ten months lower than the average in England; and 4.7% of working age people are economically inactive due to ill health – 0.6% above the average.
With the wider region trailing the UK’s productivity levels by 16.8% due in part to poor health, tackling health inequalities through the Mayor’s big ideas challenge is designed to have a ripple effect on the region, accelerating social and economic change, and supporting West Yorkshire to flourish. The three winning solutions are those that demonstrated the most, and potential for, future impact. The other 16 solutions that reached finalist stage will continue to develop, thanks to the grant funding and package of support provided to the innovators in July 2025.
These solutions ranged from an AI wellbeing companion designed by and for neurodivergent women, a digital training service for pharmacists to improve primary care, and a language platform to improve children’s speaking skills.
