Bupa and Serco back healthcare start-up scheme An initial 10 small UK health companies will each be given £75,000 in seed capital and put on a three-month "incubation" programme that will provide advice, training and introductions to potential customers and partners. The firms will be required to give up a 10pc equity stake. US firm Healthbox is running the scheme. Founder Nina Nashif said it will bring new capital into a market that hasn't been well served. Health care has traditionally been a challenging sector for innovation because it has been risk-averse. There's a huge focus on modernising heath care in the UK, but for small companies the focus has been on tech, so there's a funding gap," she said. Healthbox, a spin-out from Chicago-based Sandbox Industries, is "finalising agreements" with a number of other investors, Ms Nashif said. "London was the obvious place to come to be part of the UK's world renowned academic institutions, science and tech tradition as well as being a gateway to the rest of Europe," she said. Ms Nashif added that Healthbox would help UK firms access the huge US helath market. The programme launches with 10 start-ups in September.