Macmillan Cancer Support has announced the launch of a £30m investment fund to drive what it describes as a “UK cancer care revolution” for patients and their loved ones.
The Macmillan Ventures fund will offer financial backing for new ideas and technologies related to cancer treatment, and will be funded by donations from philanthropists and organisations wanting to help people living with cancer in the UK.
The charity pointed to research it had undertaken showing that almost half of cancer patients believe the NHS is struggling to provide good-quality healthcare on its own.
It said the new fund “demonstrates the potential for charities, innovators and those who want their money to do good to act as trusted partners for governments and the NHS by developing and scaling up the new technologies and solutions needed to meet an ever-increasing demand for world-class cancer treatment and care”.
Following the fund’s launch yesterday, Macmillan is seeking partners interested in supporting it.
Charity expands investment portfolio
Macmillan said in its statement announcing the launch that the fund “is about creating the right conditions for new ideas and solutions to thrive”.
The charity has invested over £3.5m since 2023 into UK healthcare startups. Its existing investment portfolio includes support for companies such as Lucida Medical, whose artificial intelligence tool Pi is being piloted in the NHS to help deliver same-day prostate cancer diagnostic tests.
Philip Hammond, the former chancellor and now ambassador for Macmillan Ventures, said: “During my time [in government], I saw just how much good can be achieved when the public, private and voluntary sectors come together around a shared goal.
Hammond said Macmillan Ventures was “bringing together the right coalition of philanthropists, corporate partners, people living with cancer and healthcare innovators together to build a future… where everyone living with cancer gets the world-leading treatment and care they need”.
Michael Stickland, Macmillan’s director of corporate partnerships and philanthropy, added: “Macmillan Ventures is about bringing together the right financial partners with the right healthcare innovators to help deliver our vision of a world in which no one with cancer is left behind.”
