The adult social care sector in the U.K. is under increasing pressure, with demand for services growing year-on-year and compounded by significant recruitment and retention challenges impacting providers.

Data-driven and technology-enabled solutions that are co-produced with care providers and professionals can free up time to focus on what really matters: delivering high-quality, person-centred care for people with diverse needs in broad-ranging of settings. They, also, harbour the potential to deliver transformative change for people who draw on care and their families as the benefits of new and emergent technologies are proven in real-world, care settings.

The Testbed provides funding and technical support for innovators who want to make a real difference. The initiative encourages collaboration between care providers, technologists and academic researchers, bringing new ideas to life through co-creation, prototyping and user testing. It is part of the Civic HealthTech Innovation Zone, led by the University of Liverpool, and funded by LCR’s Health and Life Sciences Innovation Zone.

Together, we aim to make the Liverpool City Region the best place in the UK to co-design, develop and test solutions fashioned by Digital Care Tech developers with provider experts, care professionals and people who draw on care.

The programme is open to registered, not-for-profit adult social care providers with an operational presence in the Liverpool City Region, as well as UK-headquartered technology companies and industry partners developing solutions for the adult social care space. Partnerships between providers and industry partners are, also, encouraged.

Small Grant Awards ranging from £10,000 to £25,000 are available to applicants.  Applicants who apply for sums >£10,000 should provide details of match funding or in-kind contributions in their submission. Such commitments will be viewed favourably as they indicate strong intent, reinforce project credibility, and help demonstrate readiness to maximise the impact and sustainability of the proposed solution.

Each recipient will, also, receive tailored support from CHIL and VEC over a period of six months to assist with technical validation and help applicants realise their prototyping ambitions. This funding and support must be used to deliver a defined new project or significant new development phase.

All grant funding awarded through the CareTech Developer Grants Programme must be fully disbursed and claimed by 31st March 2027. Applicants should ensure that their project plans and budgets clearly reflect this requirement.

In 2026, we are looking for applicants interested in enhancing the lives of carers, care professionals and people who draw on formal care and support to improve their quality of life – for example, projects could develop solutions that address one of the following questions:

-      How might we use data and technology to facilitate access to pertinent advice and guidance and reduce the administrative and coordination burden on unpaid carers (appointments, benefits, medications, information-sharing), so they can spend more time on what matters to them?

-      How might we support the recruitment, training, wellbeing and retention of care professionals using data and/or technology in a sector facing severe workforce pressures?

-      How might we make better use of data and AI to anticipate needs and intervene early (e.g. predicting deterioration, falls or crises) while keeping people safe and in control of personal information about them?

-      How might we use assistive technology to improve peoples’ experience of care and support, enabling greater independence, wellbeing and connection?

-      How might we use technology to help people who draw on care and support stay connected to their communities, relationships and interests, reducing loneliness and isolation?

The projects we fund will be data-driven, involve software and/or hardware development, and should reflect the need for new solutions to be co-designed with people who provide and/or draw on care.   

No. This funding call cannot support ongoing or already-completed projects. All applications must relate to new, clearly defined initiatives or significant new phases of development that will be undertaken specifically as a result of this grant funding being awarded.

Applications must be received by 12PM on August 13th 2026. Late submissions will not be considered.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to interview on September 1st, 2nd and 3rd 2026. Funding decisions will be announced the following week.

By the end of the grant, projects should produce:

• A working prototype or minimum viable product (MVP)

• Evidence from user interaction and/or testing

• An impact summary

• A roadmap for securing any investment that may be required, further development and implementation/scaling

• Dissemination materials (e.g. case study, presentation)

All expenditure must be directly attributable to the objectives of the funded project, incurred within the agreed project period, and supported by appropriate evidence (such as receipts, invoices, or payroll records). Only costs that are clearly linked to project delivery will be eligible; routine day-to-day business expenses are not permitted. 

Examples of Eligible Expenditure (exclusive of VAT): 

• Salaries or stipends for staff members directly involved in delivering the project 

• Training and skills development activities necessary to achieve project aims 

• Equipment purchases required for project delivery

• Public engagement and service user involvement activities, such as surveys or workshops 

Examples of Ineligible Expenditure: 

• International travel 

• Costs without supporting evidence 

• General consumables or day-to-day operational costs not specific to project delivery (e.g., routine lab supplies, office stationery)

Important: 
All funded expenditure must demonstrate a clear and direct link to the delivery and outcomes of the supported project and not represent general business or operational supplies. 

Funding will be transferred to the lead applicant’s organisation once a full audit of invoices has been completed and evidenced. This must be a legal entity with a UK bank account that can accept grant funding. The lead organisation will be responsible for managing the grant, submitting reports, submitting evidence against claiming eligible spend and ensuring delivery against the proposal.  The University of Liverpool may require evidence of eligibility prior to funding. 

A panel of experts will review proposals against the following criteria:

• Fit with this year’s theme: enhancing the lives of carers, care professionals and people who draw on formal care and support to improve their quality of life.

• Innovative potential and relevance to adult social care services

• Potential for impact on people receiving care and/or care providers and professionals

• Scope for product and service development activity to grow the headcount of the applicant

• Strength of project proposal and risk management

• Capability and experience of the team

Please get in touch with us at: chi-zone@liverpool.ac.uk