UK HealthTech & MedTech Market 2026: Mergers, Acquisitions and Fundraising Predictions

Nelson Advisors
1 hour ago
17 min read

Executive Summary: The Year of Strategic Convergence

The United Kingdom’s Healthtech and Medtech sectors are approaching a definitive inflection point as the market transitions into 2026. Following a period characterised by post-pandemic market corrections, valuation compression and capital scarcity between 2023 and 2025, the outlook for 2026 is one of strategic acceleration and structural evolution.

This report predicts that 2026 will not merely represent a cyclical rebound but a fundamental shift in the operating logic of the UK healthcare and life sciences economies, driven by the convergence of regulatory compulsion, technological maturity in generative AI and the deployment of historic levels of private capital.

Our analysis, based on extensive market review, indicates that the investment landscape is moving from a "growth-at-all-costs" paradigm to a disciplined focus on "profitable efficiency" and "clinical validation." The total addressable market for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is poised to surge, with global deal flow projected to reach $3.9 Trillion in 2026, surpassing previous records set in 2021.

For the UK specifically, this liquidity will be channeled through distinct strategic corridors: the "buy-and-build" consolidation of fragmented healthcare IT infrastructure, the defensive acquisition of regulatory-compliant medical device manufacturers and the "offensive" integration of AI-driven drug discovery platforms by major pharmaceutical incumbents facing a looming patent cliff.

Critically, this report identifies the state as a primary market-maker for 2026. The synchronisation of the NHS 10-Year Health Plan’s shift toward community care, the MHRA’s implementation of a new roadmap for Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and the Treasury’s Mansion House Reforms to unlock pension capital creates a "regulatory triple-lock" that will de-risk investment in specific high-growth verticals.

The following comprehensive analysis dissects these trends, offering a granular roadmap for investors, operators and policymakers navigating the UK health economy in 2026.

1. The Macroeconomic and Strategic Investment Drivers for 2026

To understand the specific trajectory of UK Healthtech M&A, one must first analyse the macroeconomic "super-cycles" that will dictate capital allocation in 2026. The period of hesitation seen in 2024 and 2025 is giving way to a release of pent-up strategic demand, driven by three powerful levers: the pharmaceutical patent cliff, the stabilisation of financing markets and the accumulation of private equity "dry powder."

The Pharmaceutical Patent Cliff and the Imperative for M&A

A primary structural driver for the resurgence of high-value M&A in 2026 is the pharmaceutical "patent cliff." Between 2026 and 2030, the global pharmaceutical industry faces the expiration of exclusivity patents on blockbuster drugs responsible for between $180 Billion and $400 Billion in annual revenue. Major revenue generators, including Bristol Myers Squibb’s Eliquis and Opdivo, and Merck’s Keytruda, will lose market exclusivity, opening the floodgates to generic and biosimilar competition.

This impending revenue contraction is forcing pharmaceutical giants into an aggressive "offensive" M&A posture. Unlike previous cycles where R&D was primarily internal, the 2026 strategy relies heavily on external innovation acquisition to refill depleted pipelines.

The Shift to TechBio: Large Pharma is increasingly looking to "TechBio", companies that combine biotechnology with machine learning, to shorten discovery timelines. The UK, hosting global leaders like Isomorphic Labs (a Google DeepMind spinout) and Exscientia, is a prime hunting ground for these acquisitions. The imperative is no longer just buying an asset (a single drug) but buying a platform (a validated discovery engine) that can generate multiple assets over time.
Therapeutic Concentration: Capital will not be spread evenly. It will concentrate intensely on high-growth therapeutic areas where pricing power remains strong, specifically oncology, immunology, and neurodegenerative diseases. Furthermore, the explosion of the GLP-1 (obesity) market is driving acquirers to look for adjacent technologies in metabolic health and cardiovascular monitoring.

The "Dry Powder" Release Valve

The global private equity (PE) sector enters 2026 with an unprecedented volume of unallocated capital, estimated at nearly $2.5 trillion globally, with over $1 Trillion held by US investors alone. This "dry powder" represents a massive deployable force that has been largely dormant due to the valuation gaps and financing costs of 2023-2024.

The 2026 Deployment Cycle: As interest rates stabilise and inflation data normalises, the cost of leverage for PE buyouts is becoming predictable again. This certainty is the trigger for deployment. In 2026, we anticipate a "deployment rush" as funds near the end of their investment periods face pressure to return capital or put it to work. This dynamic is expected to accelerate deal activity significantly in the second half of 2025, peaking in 2026.
Valuation Discipline: Despite the availability of capital, the "froth" of 2021 has evaporated. The 2026 market is disciplined. Investors are demanding "profitable growth" rather than "growth at all costs." Companies with proprietary, clinically validated AI algorithms and deep integration into healthcare workflows are commanding premium valuations of 6x–8x revenue. In contrast, general HealthTech assets without clear clinical ROI are trading in the 4x–6x revenue range, creating a bifurcated market of "haves" and "have-nots".

The "Buy and Build" Consolidation Engine

For Private Equity in the UK and Europe, the dominant strategy for 2026 is the "Buy and Build" (B&B) model. The UK healthcare IT (HCIT) and MedTech services landscape remains highly fragmented, characterised by hundreds of small, regional SME providers. This fragmentation is inefficient but presents a classic arbitrage opportunity for PE.

The Strategy: PE funds are acquiring mature "platform" companies, often in unglamorous back-office sectors like Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) or specialised testing labs and then acquiring smaller regional competitors to fold into this platform.
The Arbitrage: By consolidating smaller entities (purchased at lower multiples, e.g., 4x-6x EBITDA) into a larger platform (valued at higher multiples, e.g., 10x-14x EBITDA), investors generate immediate value. The operational lever in 2026 involves digitising these consolidated entities, replacing manual processes with SaaS-based AI tools to strip out cost and improve margins.

Macroeconomic Investment Drivers Summary 2026

Driver	Description	Impact on UK Market
Patent Cliff	$300B+ revenue at risk for Big Pharma (2026-2030) due to patent expiries.	Drives "offensive" M&A for UK TechBio and late-stage biotech assets.
Capital Overhang	$2.5T global PE "dry powder" awaiting deployment.	Fuels "Buy and Build" strategies in fragmented sectors like HCIT and RCM.
Regulatory Cost	High fixed costs of compliance (MDR/UKCA/AI Act).	Forces smaller Medtech SMEs to sell to larger consolidators with compliance infrastructure.
Valuation Reset	Shift from revenue multiples to profitability/EBITDA metrics.	Bifurcation of market: Premium for "profitable growth," down-rounds for "growth only."

The Regulatory Superstructure: Policy as Market Maker

In the UK’s single-payer system, government policy is not merely a constraint, it is the primary determinant of market viability. For 2026, the investment thesis is underpinned by three distinct regulatory frameworks that provide long-term visibility for investors.

The NHS 10-Year Health Plan: The "Left Shift" to Community

The NHS 10-Year Health Plan, effective from 2026, mandates a structural "left shift" of resources, moving care from expensive acute hospitals to community settings and the home. This is not a suggestion; it is a procurement mandate that creates winners and losers in the MedTech space.

Neighbourhood Health Centres: The plan outlines the creation of "Neighbourhood Health Centres," potentially funded through new public-private partnership models. This creates a new infrastructure market for diagnostic equipment that is portable, connected, and designed for non-specialist use.
Value-Based Procurement: Starting early 2026, the NHS will enforce standardised "value-based procurement" guidance. This ends the era of "cheapest price wins." Procurement decisions must now evidence long-term patient outcomes and total pathway cost savings. For UK innovators, this is a distinct advantage over cheap, commoditised imports, provided they can generate the health-economic data to prove value.
Digital by Default: The NHS App is designated as the "single front door" for patient interaction by 2028, with a Single Patient Record (SPR) legislated to integrate data from validated wearables. This creates a massive, government-mandated captive audience for digital health tools that can achieve interoperability with this central spine.

MHRA Regulatory Roadmap: The AI Airlock and SaMD

Historically, the lack of clarity on how to regulate "adaptive" AI (algorithms that learn and change over time) has stalled investment. The MHRA’s roadmap for 2026 resolves this.

Mid-2026 Implementation: The MHRA is set to implement its new framework for Software and AI as a Medical Device (SaMD/AIaMD) by mid-2026. This follows the "AI Airlock" regulatory sandbox, which has allowed the regulator to test innovative safety protocols.
Divergence vs. Alignment: While the EU AI Act imposes strict, risk-based classifications that some investors fear may stifle innovation, the UK’s approach aims to be more "pro-innovation" while maintaining safety alignment with the FDA and Health Canada (via the IMDRF).This positioning is intended to make the UK a "launchpad" market for AI diagnostics.
De-Risking Investment: For investors, the arrival of these regulations is a de-risking event. A startup with a clear path to UKCA marking under the new SaMD rules in 2026 is a far more attractive asset than one operating in a regulatory grey zone.

Mansion House Reforms: Unlocking Domestic Capital

Perhaps the most significant structural change for UK fundraising is the "Mansion House Compact."

The Mechanism: The UK government has secured commitments from major pension funds to allocate at least 5% of their default defined contribution (DC) funds to unlisted equities by 2030.
2026 Impact: By 2026, the first significant flows of this capital are expected to reach the market. This addresses the critical "Series B+ gap" that has historically forced UK companies to sell early to US buyers or list prematurely on NASDAQ.
Pension Mega-Funds: The proposed consolidation of fragmented pension schemes into "mega-funds" will create domestic institutional investors with the scale to write £50m-£100m checks, supporting the scaling of deep tech and life sciences companies within the UK.

High-Conviction Investment Themes & Sector Analysis

Based on the intersection of macroeconomic drivers and regulatory opportunities, we have identified four high-conviction investment themes for the UK market in 2026.

Operational Efficiency & The RCM "Roll-Up"

While clinical AI grabs headlines, the "unsexy" back-office of healthcare is where immediate financial returns are being generated. The NHS and private providers are under immense pressure to improve productivity (a 4% annual target is mandated).

Revenue Cycle Management (RCM): RCM involves the software and services that manage patient registration, billing and claims processing. In the UK private sector and NHS private patient units, this is highly fragmented.
The PE Thesis: Private Equity firms are aggressively deploying the "Buy and Build" model here. By acquiring a platform asset (eg. a dominant RCM software provider) and rolling up smaller service agencies, they can create a scaled entity. The value creation comes from replacing manual billing clerks with "Generative AI" agents that automate coding and claims, expanding EBITDA margins from ~15% to ~30%.
SaaS Transition: The ultimate goal is to transition these businesses from "service" revenue (hourly billing) to "SaaS" revenue (recurring licenses), which commands significantly higher exit multiples.

Ambient Clinical Intelligence (ACI)

ACI refers to technology that passively listens to clinician-patient interactions and automatically generates structured clinical notes, coding, and letters. It is widely regarded as the "killer app" for Generative AI in healthcare because it solves the immediate crisis of workforce burnout.

Strategic Alignment: The NHS 10-Year Plan explicitly references the deployment of "ambient voice technologies" to free up clinical time.
Market Dynamics: This sector is moving from pilot to scale. Companies like Tortus AI (which ran pilots at Great Ormond Street Hospital) and Tandem Health are gaining traction.
Investment Outlook: In 2026, we expect national-level procurement frameworks for ACI, leading to rapid adoption. Startups that have solved the specific privacy and "hallucination" risks of LLMs in a clinical setting will be prime targets for acquisition by Electronic Patient Record (EPR) incumbents (e.g., Oracle/Cerner, Epic) looking to defend their territory.

The Maturation of Surgical Robotics

Surgical robotics is graduating from the "early adopter" phase to the "early majority" phase, driven by the need for surgical precision and shorter recovery times (aligning with the NHS goal of reducing bed days).

CMR Surgical: The Cambridge-based unicorn is the European champion in this space. Its Versius system is designed to be modular and portable, fitting the smaller operating theaters of UK and European hospitals better than the larger US-centric systems.
Commercial Expansion: Having raised over $1 billion total (including a $200 million debt/equity round in late 2025 led by Trinity Capital), CMR is aggressively expanding into the US market/
2026 Prediction: 2026 is a likely window for a major liquidity event for CMR Surgical, potentially a dual-listing IPO or a massive strategic acquisition, validating the UK's robotics ecosystem.

Bioelectronic Medicine

The UK is establishing itself as a global hub for "Bioelectronics", the use of miniaturised devices to modulate the body's electrical signals to treat chronic disease (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, hypertension) without drugs.

The Cluster: A unique ecosystem has formed around Stevenage and Cambridge, anchored by Galvani Bioelectronics (a GSK/Verily joint venture).
Startups to Watch: Ceryx Medical is pioneering "bionic" devices that mimic the body's natural rhythms (Central Pattern Generators) to treat heart failure and respiratory conditions.
2026 Outlook: This field is moving from "science fiction" to clinical reality. 2026 will see critical trial readouts. If successful, this sector offers Big Pharma a completely new modality (electricity instead of chemistry) to mitigate the patent cliff, making these startups high-value M&A targets.

Private Equity & M&A Strategy: The Consolidation Wave

The M&A environment in 2026 will be defined by a "barbell" dynamic: mega-deals at the top end driven by pharma strategic imperatives, and a high volume of middle-market consolidation driven by private equity operational efficiencies.

Pharmaceutical "Offensive" M&A

As noted, the patent cliff is driving pharma to buy innovation. However, the target profile has shifted.

From Asset to Platform: Pharma is less interested in buying a single drug (which faces its own patent expiry clock) and more interested in "platforms", technologies that can churn out multiple drug candidates. This favours "TechBio" companies.
Structure: Deal structures in 2026 will be creative. Expect to see substantial use of Contingent Value Rights (CVRs) and "bio-bucks" (milestone payments) to bridge the gap between the valuation expectations of founders (anchored in 2021) and the discipline of acquirers.

MedTech: The Defensive "Compliance Moat"

The increasing cost of regulation (MDR, UKCA, environmental standards) is creating a "compliance moat" that protects large incumbents but drowns small SMEs.

The Trend: Large players like Medtronic, Stryker, and Philips will acquire smaller UK manufacturers not just for their IP, but because the smaller firms cannot afford the overhead of maintaining global regulatory compliance.
Defensive Consolidation: We expect a wave of consolidation among UK Medtech supply chain SMEs, driven by the need to achieve the scale required to absorb these fixed compliance costs.

The "Clean-Up" of Cap Tables

A significant, albeit painful, feature of the 2026 M&A market will be the resolution of "zombie" companies, startups that raised at unsustainable valuations in 2021 and have failed to grow into them.

Down Rounds & Recapitalisations: 2026 will likely see a peak in "down rounds" and "pay-to-play" recapitalisations, where existing investors wash out early shareholders to reset the valuation for new capital.
Distressed M&A: This presents an opportunity for well-capitalised PE firms and strategics to acquire high-quality IP and talent at a discount ("acqui-hires").

Fundraising Dynamics: The Rise of TechBio and Regional Clusters

The Venture Capital Rebound

After the "funding winter," VC investment in UK healthtech is rebounding. Data suggests that 2026 will see a sustained recovery, with H1 2025 investment levels already showing an upward trajectory. However, the criteria for funding have changed permanently.

Seed Stage: Remains robust. Investors are keen to back novel science and deep tech at the earliest stages where valuations are reasonable.
Series A/B (The Gap): This remains the hardest chasm. To cross it in 2026, companies must show not just "user growth" but "reimbursement traction." The question is no longer "will clinicians use it?" but "who will pay for it?"
Growth Stage: Capital is available but highly concentrated. The "Mansion House" pension funds will seek to write large checks ($50m+) into a small number of "national champions" rather than spreading bets widely.

The Rise of TechBio

"TechBio" is the standout sector for UK venture capital. Unlike traditional biotech (high risk, binary outcome) or digital health (low barrier to entry), TechBio offers a scalable engine for discovery.

Key Examples: Isomorphic Labs (London) is partnering with global pharma (Lilly, Novartis) to apply its AlphaFold technology to drug design. Exscientia (Oxford) continues to industrialise AI drug design.
Valuation Premium: These companies are valued more like software companies (recurring revenue from partnerships) than biotech companies (binary risk), helping them maintain valuation premiums even in a disciplined market.⁷

Regional Clusters: Beyond the Golden Triangle

While London, Oxford, and Cambridge (The Golden Triangle) continue to dominate, 2026 will see the maturation of the "Northern Powerhouse" clusters, supported by the government's levelling-up agenda and the NHS Plan.

Leeds (Digital & Data): Leeds is solidifying its position as the UK's capital for Digital Health. Home to NHS England’s digital leadership, it recently launched the Health Innovation Leeds Incubator with a £2m boost. The city is a hub for RCM, system-level IT, and data interoperability startups. The establishment of the MHRA's new digital hub in Leeds city centre further anchors this ecosystem.
Manchester (Genomics & Trials): Manchester is leveraging its large, diverse patient population and devolved health budget to become a leader in "Real World Evidence" (RWE) trials and genomics.
Scotland (Medtech & Sleep): Edinburgh is emerging as a niche hub for SleepTech and wearable sensors, with companies like SnoreMetrics and Current Health (acquired by Best Buy) setting a precedent.

Public Markets: IPOs and the Listings Outlook

The IPO market, frozen for much of 2023-2024, is showing distinct signs of a "thaw." 2026 is projected to be a busy year for UK healthtech listings, though the venue (London vs. New York) remains a contentious strategic decision.

The LSE vs. NASDAQ Dilemma

For UK HealthTech ScaleUps, the choice of listing venue is critical:

The NASDAQ Pull: The US market offers deeper pools of specialist capital, higher valuations, and a sophisticated analyst ecosystem that understands deep tech/biotech. For companies with a heavy US commercial focus (like CMR Surgical), NASDAQ remains the default ambition.
The LSE Counter-Attack: The London Stock Exchange (LSE) is fighting back. The Mansion House reforms are designed to create a domestic bid for UK stocks. Furthermore, analysis suggests that UK micro-cap IPOs have actually outperformed their US counterparts post-listing, offering better support for companies under the $1Bn market cap mark who might get "orphaned" in the US.
Prediction: In 2026, we predict a "dual-track" approach will be standard. However, the LSE may see a resurgence for mid-cap digital health companies that want to tap into the new UK pension capital pools.

Nelson Advisors specialise in mergers, acquisitions and partnerships for Digital Health, HealthTech, Health IT, Consumer HealthTech, Healthcare Cybersecurity, Healthcare AI companies based in the UK, Europe and North America. www.nelsonadvisors.co.uk

The 2026 IPO Pipeline

Several high-profile companies are positioned for potential liquidity events in 2026:

CMR Surgical: With >$1B raised and significant commercial traction, CMR is the prime candidate for a blockbuster IPO. The recent $200M financing was structured to fund the push to profitability/US expansion, typically the final step before a public listing.
Huma: The digital health unicorn has been executing a rapid expansion strategy, acquiring assets and winning NHS contracts. It is a strong candidate for a 2026 listing, potentially testing the LSE's appetite for digital health.
Oxford Nanopore (Existing): Already public, ONT will be a bellwether for the sector. Its performance in 2026 (as it faces competition from PacBio and scales its clinical diagnostics business) will influence investor sentiment toward UK genomics.

Cautionary Tales: BenevolentAI

The trajectory of BenevolentAI offers crucial lessons for the 2026 class. After listing via a SPAC in Amsterdam, the company struggled with the volatility of public markets and the pressure of quarterly reporting while still in a high-R&D burn phase.

The Restructuring: In 2025, BenevolentAI delisted and merged into a private structure (Osaka Holdings) to reduce administrative costs and restructure away from the public glare.
The Lesson: This experience has cooled enthusiasm for SPACs and premature listings. In 2026, companies will delay IPOs until they have predictable, recurring revenues and a "bulletproof" equity story. The focus will be on "being ready to be public," not just "going public".

7. Deep Dive: Emerging Technology Frontiers

SleepTech: From Consumer to Clinical

Sleep technology is graduating from simple consumer trackers (like Fitbit) to clinical-grade diagnostic and therapeutic tools.

Market Growth: The UK Sleep Tech market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 14.4% through 2033, reaching over $4 billion.
Key Innovators:
- 32Co: This dental-tech startup is launching "Aerox Sleep Centres" to treat sleep apnea using custom dental devices, effectively creating a distributed clinical network.
- Zeus Sleep: Based in Hampshire, this startup is developing neuro-stimulation devices for snoring and sleep apnea, bridging the gap between comfort and clinical efficacy.
Integration: The trend for 2026 is "SleepTech Integration"—merging professional sleep medicine with consumer wearables to allow for long-term remote monitoring of chronic conditions.

Genomics and The Long-Read Revolution

The UK remains a global leader in genomics.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT): ONT continues to innovate with its "nanopore" sensing technology, which allows for real-time, portable DNA/RNA sequencing. In 2026, the battleground will shift to the clinical diagnostics market, where ONT is competing against US giants like PacBio and Illumina.
Differentiation: ONT's ability to analyze "native" DNA/RNA (including epigenetic modifications) in real-time gives it a unique advantage in cancer diagnostics and rapid infectious disease response.

Conclusion: The 2026 Investment Thesis

The year 2026 represents a maturation point for the UK Healthtech and Medtech sectors. The speculative excess of the pandemic era has been washed out, replaced by a market structure defined by strategic necessity (pharma patent cliffs), operational efficiency (NHS productivity targets), and technological convergence (AI + Biology).

Key Takeaways for Investors & Operators:

Align with the "Left Shift": Do not fight the NHS 10-Year Plan. Investments that facilitate the movement of care from hospital to home (RPM, community diagnostics, sleeptech) have a structural tailwind.
Hunt for Efficiency: In a labor-constrained NHS, technologies that automate administrative tasks (RCM, Ambient Clinical Intelligence) will see faster adoption than complex clinical decision support tools.
The "Roll-Up" Opportunity: The fragmentation of the UK healthcare back-office is an arbitrage opportunity. Expect private equity to be the most active buyer in the sub-$50m deal bracket.
Deep Tech Resilience: While consumer health apps face skepticism, "hard tech"—robotics, bioelectronics, and AI-driven drug discovery, retains premium valuation status due to high barriers to entry and global strategic interest.
Regulatory Awareness: Success in 2026 requires navigating the "Triple Lock" of NHS Procurement, MHRA SaMD rules, and Pension Fund capital requirements. Regulatory strategy is now as important as product strategy.

In summary, 2026 will be a year where capital returns to the market with conviction. It will be selective, disciplined, and focused on "national champions" that can scale globally while solving the acute productivity crises of the domestic health system.

Predicted Top UK Healthtech M&A Themes 2026

Theme	Strategic Driver	Target Type	Buyer Profile
RCM Roll-Up	Operational Efficiency/Recurring Revenue	Billing, Coding, Inventory Mgt Software	Private Equity (Buy & Build)
Pharma "Reload"	Patent Cliff ($300B+ at risk)	Late-stage Oncology, Immunology, TechBio Platforms	Big Pharma (AstraZeneca, GSK, Pfizer)
Medtech Defense	Regulatory Cost (MDR/UKCA)	Compliance-heavy SMEs, Device Manufacturers	Medtech Giants (Medtronic, Boston Sci)
AI Integration	Workforce Productivity	Ambient Clinical Intelligence (Scribes), Workflow AI	EMR Providers, Tech Giants

Table 3: UK Regional Healthtech Cluster Strengths

Cluster	Primary Focus Areas	Key Assets/Hubs	2026 Outlook
Cambridge	TechBio, Surgical Robotics, Bioelectronics	CMR Surgical, AstraZeneca, Bioelectronics Lab	Maturation of robotics ecosystem; Bioelectronic clinical readouts.
London	AI Drug Discovery, Digital Health, Fintech-Health	Isomorphic Labs, Huma, Francis Crick Institute	Focus on AI/ML applications and high-growth VC funding.
Leeds	Digital Health, RCM, Data Platforms	NHS England Digital, Health Innovation Leeds Incubator	Hub for national scale-up of digital infrastructure and system IT.
Manchester	Genomics, Precision Medicine, RWE	Manchester Science Park, QIAGEN	Leader in clinical trials and real-world evidence generation.
Oxford	Immunotherapy, Genomics	Oxford Nanopore, Exscientia	Continued leadership in spin-outs from University research

Key UK Regulatory Milestones & Impact

Timeline	Regulation / Policy	Impact on Investment
Early 2026	NHS Value-Based Procurement	Shift from cost to outcome; favours data-rich Medtech.
Mid 2026	MHRA SaMD/AIaMD Framework	Legal clarity for AI devices; de-risks investment in adaptive algorithms.
2026	Mansion House Reforms (Pension Cap)	Influx of domestic capital into late-stage private rounds.
2026	NHS Neighborhood Health Centres	Demand for remote monitoring & community diagnostics.

Notable UK/European Healthtech Scaleups Watchlist (2026 Potential Exits/IPOs)

Company	Sector	Status/Funding Note	2026 Outlook
CMR Surgical	Robotics	Raised >$1B total; $200M in late 2025.	Potential IPO (NASDAQ/LSE) or Strategic M&A.
Huma	Digital Health	Unicorn status; Decentralised Clinical Trials.	Potential IPO candidate.
Isomorphic Labs	TechBio (AI Drug Disc)	Alphabet subsidiary; ext. partnerships.	Strategic Partnerships / Spin-out value.
Cera Care	Tech-Enabled Care	>$500M Revenue; Home care platform.	IPO Candidate or PE Exit.
BenevolentAI	TechBio	Delisted/Privatised in 2025.	Restructuring / Private Sale.
Oxford Nanopore	Genomics	Public (LSE: ONT).	M&A Target or Acquirer of smaller peers.
Zeus Sleep	SleepTech	Early stage; £150k recent raise.	Growth funding / Strategic partnership target.
Tandem Health	Ambient AI	Partnered with Accurx for NHS rollout.	Acquisition target for larger EHR/IT vendors.

Nelson Advisors > MedTech and HealthTech M&A

Nelson Advisors specialise in mergers, acquisitions and partnerships for Digital Health, HealthTech, Health IT, Consumer HealthTech, Healthcare Cybersecurity, Healthcare AI companies based in the UK, Europe and North America. www.nelsonadvisors.co.uk

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