ABHI Membership

ABHI Hub at WorkSpaces @ Texas Health CoLab

At Dell Med, we believe that novel environments are necessary to improve the pace and quality of health product innovation, supporting products critical to making Austin a model healthy city. Open since October 2017 and home to a mix of mission-aligned healthcare startups, WorkSpaces @ Texas Health CoLab enables new kinds of multi-disciplinary collaboration, supporting a value-focused health ecosystem driven by world-class research and technology capabilities. Led by Verena Kallhoff, WorkSpaces foster a vibrant ecosystem that provides the crucial elements necessary for the creative partnerships that will be a key part of achieving Dell Med’s mission to revolutionize how people get and stay healthy.

“True health demands that the whole work in harmony, which is why we’re dedicated to partnerships. Indeed, we can’t achieve our goals without them,” says Mini Kahlon, Vice Dean for the Health Ecosystem. Correspondingly, within a month of opening, ABHI joined WorkSpaces @ Texas Health CoLab as a member company, opening a hub for UK companies interested in entering the U.S. market.

The creation of the hub, a first for ABHI, offers U.K. companies the opportunity develop their U.S. business within an ecosystem of clinicians, investors and mentors. It offers companies a compelling office location, providing them the infrastructure to focus on accelerating market access in Texas and beyond. Being embedded in the health innovation ecosystem in Austin, the U.K. companies benefit from a range of innovation initiatives at Dell Med. In return, the Austin health ecosystem, and in fact the U.S. healthcare ecosystem, can learn from some of Great Britain’s most innovative companies. Rick Peters, Chief Technology Innovation Officer at Dell Med, highlights that “the partnership is designed to bring the best of U.K. health innovation to Austin and the U.S. and the best of Austin health innovation to the U.K. market.”

Seven U.K. companies have joined the ABHI hub thus far. Embedded in the ecosystem, they interact with other startups at WorkSpaces, have already developed numerous alliances and continue to engage Dell Med and other U.S. organizations with their pioneering approaches to clinical care. Companies benefit from the insights and connections they gain through being part of the ecosystem and in the words of Ruben Rathnasingham, Assistant Dean for Health Product Innovation, “at Dell Medical School we are excited to learn from some of the best and most innovative companies from the U.K.”.

Reacting to this relationship, several U.S. companies have already started to explore how they can best enter or expand in the U.K. market. During a recent visit at Dell Med, the U.K. delegation, led by Paul Benton, discussed the opportunities and challenges within the British market with representatives of U.S. companies. The group had a frank and insightful discussion around the U.K. healthcare system, highlighting recent changes, challenges and opportunities for engagement. Manchester was highlighted as a city that is heavily invested in transforming healthcare, providing a streamlined opportunity for U.S. companies to collaborate with greater Manchester’s Academic Health Sciences & Innovation System.

During the first nine months, ABHI and its members have made numerous trips to Texas, engaged with dozens of clinicians across Dell Med and other organizations, and connected with healthcare systems in Austin and across the state. The companies are building strong foundations for prosperous relationships and WorkSpaces is excited to continue fostering collaborations and partnerships between these U.K. companies and potential partners in Austin.

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