Discovery Park, Kent’s science and innovation hub, has launched the 8th edition of its Discovery Spark accelerator programme, welcoming 10 startups to its campus in Sandwich.
The cohort brings together 13 founders working across drug discovery, diagnostics, wound care, crop science and biotechnology. Startups were selected based on the need for their innovation, the uniqueness of their solution and the strength of their team. Throughout November, founders will attend specialist-led sessions in Kent and London focused on investor readiness. Topics range from tax and finance, legal and governance, and risk mitigation to performance and communications. The programme ends with an interactive pitch day on 3 December in the company of relevant active investors.
First launched in 2023, the business growth programme has already supported 77 companies and 115 founders across seven previous cohorts, with alumni securing over £6.5m in UKRI funding to date. Spark gives startups a network of peers, mentors and expert advisers as part of a collaborative cohort.
Programme Lead Renos Savva, Head of Innovation and Venture Development at Discovery Park, said: ‘“’Cohort 8.0 is our broadest cohort yet, running from the lab bench to the farm field, with founders working on molecular glues, cell engineering, wound care and high-iron crops. Several of these companies have already raised investment or come out of leading research institutions. Over the coming weeks we’ll work closely with every team to sharpen their investor narrative and test their commercial strategy, so they leave ready to raise their next round and get their technology into use.’”’
Companies in the latest cohort include Ternary Therapeutics, focused on the discovery of new molecular glues, a class of drug that can target disease-causing proteins long considered ‘undruggable’. Its discovery platform combines AI, physics-based modelling and laboratory testing to design molecular glues deliberately, where most have previously been found by chance. Founded in 2024, the London-based company raised £3.6m in seed funding in March 2026 and is developing programmes in inflammatory and neuroinflammatory diseases.
HiFe Plants, a spinout from the John Innes Centre, is developing high-iron crop traits for use in biofortified foods and ingredients. In trials, 25g of HiFe pea shoots contained enough iron to provide 100% of a woman’s recommended daily iron intake. The company is now working with a commercial pea breeder to produce a plant-based iron ingredient as an alternative to traditional iron supplements.
Others in the cohort include companies developing a breath test to identify prediabetes risk earlier, a colour-changing microneedle patch that confirms a vaccine dose has been delivered, a non-hormonal treatment for endometriosis, and technologies to improve wound care.
The Discovery Spark accelerator is open to UK-based science and technology startups and SMEs from all disciplines, with different themed cohorts throughout the year. Learn more about Discovery Spark and register interest for the next cohort: https://discovery-park.co.uk/lp/discovery-spark/
