Zinc is one of Europe’s leading mission-led venture builders and innovation accelerators. We have collaborated with them many times before, including commissioning a report on building ventures to improve the quality of later life and, more recently, our investment in the Zinc 2 fund as part of our impact-led investment strategy.
Since 2023, we have supported seven researchers to accelerate their innovation careers across three programmes. These opportunities are directly aligned with our strategic objectives. In particular, we want to promote innovation and contribute to making a real difference by connecting researchers from different disciplines with each other and with those working in professional practice and the community. This programme also aligns to our Funder Action Plan for the Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers, in which we commit to provide opportunities for researchers to gain experience in sectors beyond academia.
First launched in 2023 as the Innovation Fellowships in Healthy Ageing, we supported Aaron and Mark to experience first-hand what it takes to build science-rich products and services to improve outcomes for people in later life. Following the impact and success of the first round, our 2024 cohort (which had an application success rate 20%), included Kengo Shibata (University of Oxford), Charlotte Moss (University of Sheffield) and Aminette D’Souza (University of Oxford).
Left to right: Kengo Shibata, Charlotte Moss, Aminette D’Souza
Following the start of the programme, the Fellows joined and contributed to various health start-ups focusing on ageing well.
Aminette was curious about commercial environments and did not initially know how to step into that space. For Aminette, “The Zinc programme felt like a good stepping stone”. In the first 6 months, Aminette worked with Manual on multiple research projects. In the final three months of the programme, she joined Mendea to work in a venture where she could contribute specialist expertise.
Kengo worked with three start-ups while on the programme, Neubond, Bellevie and Eargym, and felt it was a rare opportunity to be exposed to so many ventures. He felt he learned a lot from working with the different teams.
During her placement, Charlotte made a significant contribution to Sava’s product development, focussing on a minimally invasive biosensor. She then leveraged her placement to secure a full-time role in a medical device company.
My placement at Sava enabled me to engage in and gain exposure to a wide breadth of activities. This has been key to me deciding on what I wanted to do next in my career and finding a new position after the placement
Charlotte Moss
Following another successful and competitive application round, we are happy to announce that Gemma Archer and Darren Player joined the Innovation programme in 2025.
Left to right: Darren Player and Gemma Archer
Darren is an Associate Professor in Musculoskeletal Bioengineering at University College London, and Gemma is a Lecturer in Public Health at Brighton & Sussex Medical School.
Darren’s three-month placement was at Vitalis Ortho, which are developing a device to support the natural regeneration of cartilage in knee osteoarthritis. Darren described his experience on the programme as “absolutely fantastic”. The placement provided a rare opportunity to step outside academia for the first time, work in a start-up environment, meet people with different perspectives and experience, and apply his academic expertise in a new, commercially oriented context.
Coming from ~15 years in academia, Darren described the Zinc experience as an “enlightenment.” He now sees that achieving real‑world impact in healthcare depends not only on identifying a clinical need and generating evidence, but also on considering commercialisation and payment models from the outset, where applicable. He intends to share this learning with academic colleagues and to embed these considerations into his own research design, grant applications and collaborations.
Gemma is currently placed at Bellevie. This placement has given Gemma the opportunity to use her academic skills in a different context.
What excites me most is applying my epidemiology and public health expertise in a new context where I can see direct, tangible impact
Gemma Archer
Gemma has been energised by addressing the enormous challenge of system-wide change that aims to improve outcomes for both those receiving and providing care. She is also gaining valuable insight into the ‘big picture’ of how a healthcare innovation organisation operates – especially through navigating relationships with diverse partners, advisors and investors. Gemma is keen to deepen her understanding of how a start-up operates and is considering using the placement’s development budget to enhance her skill set, potentially through formal training in AI data strategy.
These skills will be valuable whether I return to research or pursue my own future ventures, or somewhere in-between, and I’m excited to see how they’ll shape my career path going forward
Gemma Archer
Given all this, we’re excited to announce that applications are now open for our next cohort. In response to feedback, we have decided to change the name of the next round to the Zinc Innovation Placements for Ageing Well. Although the principles of the scheme remain the same, the placements will be specifically targeted towards early career postdoctoral researchers with up to 10 years’ postdoctoral research experience.
The application process is managed by the team at Zinc and, in the most recent round, the success rate for eligible applications was ~13%. The current round is now open with a deadline of 5pm on 2nd April 2026. For more information, please visit our ‘Apply for funding‘ page.