Wellcome Leap Health Breakthrough Programs

Wellcome Leap Health Breakthrough Programs

Funds companies and research teams worldwide to deliver breakthrough health and biotechnology projects at scale.

Eligibility · Worldwide

Wellcome Leap runs the Health Breakthrough Programs — fast, ambitious funding for projects that could change human health. Wellcome Leap is a US non-profit set up by the Wellcome Trust, and it partners with others (for example Pivotal Ventures on women’s health) to fund work "at scale".

It works in time-limited "programs", each aimed at a hard health or biology problem (recent examples include women’s health and a Quantum for Bio challenge). A single program is funded at scale — often up to tens of millions of dollars in total (some programs up to about 50 million dollars) — and the money is paid against milestones. There is no fixed award size; what each team gets depends on the proposal selected.

It is open to applicants anywhere in the world, and — unusually — it funds companies of any size, including venture-backed startups, alongside universities, government, and non-profit research organisations. A team’s Principal Investigator submits the application.

To apply, you pick a specific open program on the Wellcome Leap website, then submit an abstract and proposal through the online portal (not by email). Each program sets its own focus, milestones, and dates.

Keep in mind you are applying to a specific program, not one general pot of money, so your work has to fit that program’s goal — and the funding is milestone-based, paid as the agreed steps are delivered.