ANDHealth will continue the Victorian Connected Health Innovation and Commercialisation Capability (CHICC) program for a further two years thanks to funding from the Victorian State Government, following significant growth in the local sector since the program’s inception.

CHICC is a collaborative partnership between ANDHealth and the Victorian Government Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions (DJSIR) that was first established in 2022.

Under the new agreement, ANDHealth will continue to develop and strengthen Victoria’s digital and connected health technology sector through the CHICC program – contributing to the triple aim of economic growth, advanced manufacturing capabilities and health system resilience.

The agreement also aligns with ANDHealth’s new collaboration with the Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD), which involves ANDHealth providing strategic and programmatic support to ACMD and ANDHealth being co-located in the state-of-the-art ACMD hub at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, creating a centre of excellence in digital and connected health commercialisation in central Melbourne.

Victoria is home to over 529 digital and connected health companies, with ANDHealth data showing the sector has recorded 32.6 per cent compound annual growth over the past five years. ‘HealthTech’ is the joint largest sub-sector in Victoria’s $143 billion startup ecosystem, according to the State’s startup agency LaunchVic.

CHICC’s annual program suite, featuring specialised expert workshops, networking events and one-one-one mentoring sessions, will accelerate the growth and commercialisation of digital and connected health technologies in Victoria.

Victorian Minister for Economic Growth and Jobs, the Hon. Danny Pearson, said: “This partnership will help local healthtech companies grow, creating jobs across Victoria and ensuring our state remains at the forefront of health innovation on the global stage."

ANDHealth CEO, Bronwyn Le Grice, said: “CHICC has been a catalyst for sector-wide growth, capability development and economic activity. Since we first started CHICC, Victoria’s digital and connected health pipeline accelerated significantly, with 127 per cent more companies distributed across the commercialisation pathway.”

“This renewed funding recognises the transformative outcomes we have already delivered to hundreds of SMEs. We look forward to working with the Victorian Government to continue supporting our thriving digital and connected health landscape, now and into the future,” Ms Le Grice said.

Since its launch in December 2022, CHICC has delivered 32 workshops, over 300 coaching sessions and six international expert-in-residence programs to more than 1,450 program participants. These offerings drew heavily on local and international industry leaders and subject matter experts, developing and nurturing a deep pool of knowledge and commercialisation capabilities.

Nationally, ANDHealth works closely with more than 1,200 digital and connected health companies across Australia, as well as international partners. It delivers world-class commercialisation skills training, accelerator and incubator programs and provides professional management of substantial non-dilutive funding through the MRFF, all of which are designed to create fit-to-fund and fit-to-deploy technologies at the forefront of health innovation.