Siloton wins £8.4M Innovate UK grant to fast-track handheld eye scanner
What's the deal? Bristol-based SilotonDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has secured £8.4 million from Innovate UKDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to accelerate development of its handheld retinal imaging system. The grant, awarded through Innovate UK's Contracts for Innovation: Quantum Missions Primer programme, runs over two years.
Why it stands out: At £8.4 million, the award ranks in the top 1% of all grant rounds for UK semiconductor companies, based on a sample of 495 comparable deals. Siloton compresses a tabletop's worth of fragile, expensive OCT components onto a single chip smaller than a £1 coin.
What's the endgame? The funding will advance the design of in-clinic and at-home versions of Siloton's GiraffeOCT optical coherence tomography device, plus trials on both. Siloton expects the contract could cut development time by up to two years.
What's the product? OCT uses light to build detailed images of the inside of the eye, helping clinicians spot and monitor retinal diseases. Existing systems are large, costly, and confined to hospitals and clinics — limiting access, especially in rural areas. The grant will also support Siloton's second-generation CheetahOCT device, designed to detect more conditions.
Siloton will run clinical trials with Sunderland Specialist Eye HospitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, giving patients across the North East and North Cumbria access during development. York Health Economics ConsortiumDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → will use the trial data to refine NHS cost-saving estimates.
Why now? Ophthalmology is the busiest NHS outpatient specialty, with around nine million attendances in England in 2023/24. At the end of July 2026, nearly 623,000 people were on the waiting list — 8.7% of all NHS waits.
The company plans to raise further investment off the back of the win and expects its team to grow to 16 by August 2028, adding roles in photonics, electronics, and software.
"Many early-stage companies struggle to get beyond the well-known 'valley of death' in developing new products — particularly in healthcare — but this will support us through that crucial phase," said chief executive officer Alasdair Price.
The signal: The grant ties into the UK's National Quantum Strategy, which committed to NHS Trusts benefiting from quantum sensing solutions by the end of the decade. Siloton's bet is that shrinking OCT onto a chip can move eye care out of hospitals and into clinics and homes.
Read more: businesscloud.co.uk
Image credit: Siloton
