Macmillan Cancer Support launches Macmillan Ventures to offer vital financial backing for new ideas and technologies with the potential to transform UK cancer care
- Macmillan Ventures aims to bring together people living with cancer, and the innovators working to improve their cancer treatment and care, with funding partners who want to help revolutionise the system
- The charity is seeking forward thinking philanthropists and corporate partners who want to support the most promising developments in cancer treatment and care
- Macmillan aims to create the conditions needed for new solutions to thrive, working with healthcare startups to design products that meet the needs of people living with cancer and help them be adopted into mainstream NHS care
- Lord Philip Hammond, Ambassador for Macmillan Ventures says: “If you care about the future of our healthcare system. If you care about ‘what happens next’ when someone hears the words “you have cancer”, then please join us and help us to write a far more positive ending to that story. Help us shape a cancer care system that can offer everyone the best possible cancer care, where and when people need it the most.”
Macmillan Cancer Support has launched Macmillan Ventures, a new investment fund being fuelled by donations from visionary philanthropists and organisations who want to help transform care for people living with cancer in the UK.
For Macmillan, their latest venture in delivering better cancer care is not just about the money, but all about creating the right conditions for new ideas and solutions to thrive.
With someone in the UK being diagnosed with cancer every 75 secondsi, and with 5.4 million people expected to be living with cancer in the UK by 2045 – a 58% rise on where we are todayii – the charity says, “things urgently need to change if demand for high quality cancer care is to be met.”
Right now, Macmillan believes far too many people are being lost to a cancer care system that is too slow, impersonal, and unfair. A system where more needs to be done to make cancer care not just better, but fairer for all.
Only recently, the latest research by the charity revealed how around half of the almost 3.5 million people living with cancer in the UK (47%) feel that the NHS is struggling to provide good quality healthcareiii.
Other research from Macmillan shows how one in five people going through cancer treatment in the UK (20%) struggle with serious physical or emotional concerns for which they do not receive any supportiv.
Macmillan Ventures is being launched to help address those big issues in UK cancer care and represents a huge scaling up of ambition by the charity, which has already invested over £3.5 million since 2023 into UK healthcare startups involved in spearheading significant technological breakthroughs.
What the new fund demonstrates is the potential for charities, for 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.
Macmillan’s existing investment portfolio already includes support for shining-light companies like Lucida Medical, whose artificial intelligence tool Pi is being piloted in the NHS to help deliver ‘same day’ prostate cancer diagnostic tests - cutting through the anxiety of waiting that so dominates UK cancer care.
To date, investment from the charity ranges from upright radiotherapy technology which has been designed with patients to help increase comfort and precision during treatment, to a digital cancer support clinic which could help cut through the inconsistencies that exist in cancer care provision across the UK.
For Macmillan, whether it is a new test for hard-to-diagnose cancers or a potentially lifesaving home sepsis test, this is an investment portfolio with a difference. A portfolio shaped by people living with cancer.
That is why the charity is now actively fundraising and seeking out new partners who want to help make better care a reality for everyone diagnosed with cancer in the future.
Lord Philip Hammond, Ambassador for Macmillan Ventures said: “During my time as both Chancellor of the Exchequer and as a government minister, I saw just how much good can be achieved when the public, private and voluntary sectors come together around a shared goal.
“That is what Macmillan Ventures is doing right now – bringing together the right coalition of philanthropists, corporate partners, people living with cancer and healthcare innovators together to build a better future. A future where everyone living with cancer gets the world-leading treatment and care they need.
“If you care about the future of our healthcare system. If you care about ‘what happens next’ when someone hears the words “you have cancer”, then please join us and help us to write a far more positive ending to that story. Help us shape a cancer care system that can offer everyone the best possible cancer care, where and when people need it the most.”
Michael Stickland, Macmillan Director of Corporate Partnerships and Philanthropy said: “In 1911 we cycled to people’s homes to deliver coal. In the 70s we developed cancer nurse specialists. And in 2026 we are applying that same unwavering commitment to achieving better cancer care, for everyone, in a world that is quickly being reshaped by digital innovation, AI-driven diagnostics and precision medicine.
“Macmillan Ventures is all 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. Where potential signs of cancer are picked up at the earliest possible opportunity. Where everyone has the right support from day one, and where world-class care is the norm for everyone, no matter who they are or where they live.
“UK cancer care can be better. It can be made fairer. What we need to do now is bring the right people and the right innovations together to help make that a reality.”
Pahini Pandya, CEO and Founder of Panakeia, whose artificial intelligence platform aims to deliver specialist cancer test results in minutes rather than weeks said: “I founded Panakeia after my own experience waiting anxiously for lab test results in relation to a cancer scare, so patients and their families have always been at the heart of everything we do.
“Macmillan's investment is more than capital - it's a partnership with an organisation that deeply understands the patient journey and shares our commitment to improving patient outcomes while reducing the anxiety and uncertainty that comes with a cancer diagnosis.”
And for Macmillan, that unwavering focus on what patients experience during their care is what Macmillan Ventures is all about – it is an investment into creating a better future and transforming what cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery looks like for the millions of people who will hear the words “you have cancer” in the future.
Notes to Editor
- Macmillan Ventures was launched at a special ‘Revolutionising Cancer Care’ event on Wednesday 20 May in London. Key speakers included Macmillan’s Chief Executive, Gemma Peters, and Macmillan Ventures Ambassador Lord Philip Hammond who were joined by the people helping to fund healthcare innovation, and those spearheading the development of innovations designed to transform cancer care for the future.
- For background on all the companies supported by Macmillan so far please visit Macmillan Ventures
Some thoughts from just some of the companies who are part of Macmillan Cancer Support’s pioneering investment scheme:
- Umaima Malik Ahmad is CEO & Co-Founder of 52North, a company developing a new and potentially lifesaving sepsis check. She said: “It means a great deal when we're able to actually create innovations that are led and directed by the people living with cancer who are going to benefit from them the most.”
- Morgan Fitzsimons is Co-Founder and CCO for Perci Health, whose virtual cancer clinic connects people to expert teams who can help them access the care that’s right for them. She said: “One of the highlights of working with Macmillan is that they're incredibly collaborative. They don't just invest; they actively look for ways to help us grow, open doors, and spread the word. You're not just funding innovation; you're redefining what cancer care looks like. You're helping ensure that no one has to face cancer alone and that everyone gets the care and the chance at life that they deserve.”
- Anthony Rix is CEO & Co-Founder of Lucida Medical, a company pioneering a new artificial intelligence platform that has the potential to increase both the speed and accuracy of prostate cancer tests. He said: “For every pound invested by Macmillan, thanks to their reputation and their due diligence, we've been able to raise £10 from other investors. This multiplies the impact of their funding enormously.”
- Stephen Towe is CEO of Leo Cancer Care, who are developing upright radiotherapy technology to improve comfort and precision during people’s cancer treatment. He said: “The power of Macmillan is to bring that patient voice to an entrepreneur's innovation. I've recommended Macmillan Ventures to multiple entrepreneurs already.”
- Matthew Baker is CEO for DxCover, a company aiming to transform diagnosis for difficult-to-detect brain cancers. He said: “Because of their reputation, having Macmillan on the table provides a great stamp of approval that this is potentially an innovation that can move forward and start to change people's lives.”
- Jonathan Kwok is CEO and Clinician-Scientist for Infinitopes, a company developing a precision cancer vaccine to help prevent oesophageal cancer. He said: “We are over the moon to be working with the Macmillan Ventures team. They've asked all the right questions, and they've gone to an extraordinary degree of due diligence to really understand all the moving parts of our business.”