The NHS Doesn't Buy Tech, it Buys Trust: Lessons for HealthTech Start Ups
HealthTech sounds like the perfect career path for the ambitious entrepreneur. A chance to improve lives and build a successful business. But most founders quickly learn: selling into the NHS is nothing like traditional startups. In this fireside chat, HealthTech founder, CEO Coach, and Chairman Kevin McDonnell shares the hard truths about NHS entrepreneurship with E-Lab Research Associate Coco Newton.
What works, what fails, and why most advice simply doesn’t apply. Drawing on his 25+ years of experience building, scaling, and exiting HealthTech businesses, Kevin will unpack the hidden principles of adoption, why evidence always beats features, and how to design solutions that the NHS actually uses. This session is ideal for students, researchers, and early-stage founders who want to build products that matter, and avoid the common pitfalls that kill 90% of HealthTech ventures. Expect brutal honesty, practical wisdom, and a completely different lens on entrepreneurship in one of the most complex systems in the world.
Speaker Bios
Kevin McDonnell is a highly experienced Chairman, CEO Coach, and strategic advisor with over 25 years’ experience leading and scaling healthcare and technology businesses. He currently serves as Chairman of Psyomics, ZoomDoc Health, ART Health Solutions, and Xploro. His previous Chair roles include Jiva.ai and Intelligent Health. Formerly CEO of Digital Healthcare, where he led the business to a successful exit to EMIS Group, Kevin went on to serve as Managing Director of EMIS Health Specialist and EMIS Care. His later leadership roles include senior positions at Capita, where he focused on global healthcare strategy and growth. Kevin has also served as Entrepreneur in Residence at Cambridge Enterprise and is currently an Advisory Council Member for Harvard Business Review. In addition, he is an Expert Advisor on Digital Health, Technology, and AI to the United Nations (UN/CEFACT).
Coco Newton is a neuroscientist and translational researcher at UCL and the University of Cambridge, working at the intersection of brain health innovation and NHS implementation. She has worked across academia, industry, and policy to support HealthTech translation, leading multi-site NHS digital research projects and international expert groups on technology for dementia. Currently she is leading on the development of a digital cognitive tool for earlier Alzheimer’s detection in primary care and implementation framework for neurotechnologies in secondary care, funded by NIHR and ARIA respectively.
WHEN: Thursday, 30 October 2025
5.30 PM – 6.30 PM: Fireside discussion in Keynes Lecture Theatre
6.30 PM – 7.00 PM: Drinks reception and networking in King’s Bar
WHERE: King’s College, Cambridge
TICKETS: Registration information will be available in October