HealthTech Works FAQs
HealthTech Works supports Yale faculty building early-stage health technology: digital health, devices, diagnostics, and AI/ML tools. Each team must have at least one Yale faculty member, and the innovation must have been created at Yale and be eligible for Yale University IP. A formal invention disclosure is not required to apply.
HealthTech Works supports faculty innovation at an early stage, and applicants are not required to have a formed company or a developed product. The more useful consideration is whether the program's resources (funding, a dedicated student associate team, and mentorship) can advance your work over the course of the year. Projects positioned to benefit from customer discovery and validation are well suited to the program.
Applications are open to all eligible faculty. Following an initial review, advancing applicants are invited to complete customer discovery as part of the process. Teams that have already done this work will not be asked to repeat it. Customer discovery is a valuable exercise, and prior experience with it positions a team well. For teams that apply having completed customer discovery, support concentrates on the stages that follow: evidence generation, go-to-market strategy, regulatory and reimbursement strategy, and investor readiness.
Awards are non-dilutive grants. Because funds flow through the department, HealthTech Works takes no equity.
Funds can be spent on advancing the technology, including personnel, prototyping, development or consulting services, and the evidence generation needed to move the work forward.
Awardees receive a non-dilutive commercialization grant. In addition to funding, awardees receive a dedicated student associate team that helps advance your venture, mentorship from experienced entrepreneurs and industry advisors, and workshops spanning regulatory, reimbursement, fundraising, and commercial strategy.
Every applicant receives a structured venture analysis: your concept, the opportunity you're addressing, and the most important question to answer next. Applying is designed to be worth your time regardless of outcome.
No. The innovation needs to be eligible for Yale University IP, meaning it was created at Yale, but a formal disclosure is not required at the time of application. Health technologies often benefit from one, and we'll help you navigate it. Software projects may pursue an open-source path.
Applications open September 1 and close September 25. After an initial review, a smaller cohort advances to complete customer discovery through I-Corps. That work informs the final selection, and awards are announced in January.
Application reviews are confidential and will be done by Yale Ventures employees and affiliates.
Programming runs across the academic year and is sequenced to follow a venture's development. Topics include customer discovery and validation, regulatory, reimbursement, fundraising, and commercial strategy. Sessions are led by experienced operators and subject matter experts. Awardees also work with a dedicated student associate team and receive mentorship throughout.