Health Innovation East Digital Hub launches second cohort, powered by Cogniss
Following the success of its inaugural programme, the Health Innovation East Digital Health Hub has officially launched its second cohort of digital health innovators. Powered by Cogniss’s no-code platform, this programme empowers clinicians, academics and SMEs to develop impactful patient-facing app solutions for the NHS and beyond.
Each innovator in the programme receives a fully funded six-month package that includes app development, testing, validation and compliance support. Using Cogniss’s no-code platform, participants can transform their ideas into working digital health solutions ready for real-world implementation.
This second cohort brings together eight innovators from three NHS Trusts, a Primary Care Network and several NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (CEP) Fellows. Their projects address a wide range of healthcare challenges, from supporting families through pregnancy, migraines and mental health to chronic condition management and postnatal care:
Expect Choice empowers expecting parents with stage-specific, evidence-based, personalised information to make informed decisions throughout pregnancy, reducing reliance on inconsistent online sources.
ArthriLink provides culturally tailored arthritis management for African communities, integrating symptom tracking, localised self-care strategies and a peer support network to enhance day-to-day well-being.
FamCan helps clinicians and patients assess family cancer risk and determine whether referral to clinical genetics is required.
MigraAid combines a comprehensive headache diary with Eye Movement Desensitization and Processing (EMDR) therapy, designed to reduce the severity and frequency of migraines.
UNICORN supports parents of premature babies through guided developmental tracking, age-specific assessments and evidence-based resources to promote optimal neurodevelopment after discharge from neonatal intensive care units.
PulseON Companion App for the PulseOn wearable device, enables users to log symptoms, sync measurement data and receive personalised guidance, improving real-time monitoring and early detection of arrhythmias.
Speek offers a digital hub for families affected by severe mental illness with critical resources they need such as evidence-based interventions, peer support and on-demand access to relevant skills and treatment strategies.
The Eli App uses behavioural science and gamification to improve medication adherence, hydration and symptom tracking for children with sickle cell disease, helping reduce emergency hospital visits.
The Digital Health Hub was highly commended at the HTN Now Awards 2025 in the category of Health Tech Team of the Year. This recognition reflects the strength of the partnership between Health Innovation East and Cogniss, and the programme’s growing reputation for accelerating digital transformation in healthcare by supporting the development and scale-up of solutions that meet urgent system needs.
The Cogniss platform contains more than 100 pre-built features as building blocks to enable the creation and iteration of sophisticated patient-facing digital health apps. Beyond development, Cogniss also simplifies the compliance, interoperability and distribution of health apps, resulting in a much more efficient procurement pathway for compliant patient-centric solutions.
Joanna Dempsey, Commercial Enterprise Lead at Health Innovation East, said:
“This is a great opportunity for innovators to bring their app ideas to life quickly and with expert support. Using the tools from Cogniss, they can rapidly develop and test solutions, while also ensuring digital compliance.”
Lloyd Humphreys, Managing Director at Cogniss, added:
“Our cohort 1 participants have already proven the power of our no-code platform in rapidly building a range of solutions that are ready to be piloted across NHS organisations. With cohort 2 we are excited to take this further and add to the extensive Cogniss app marketplace.”
Following the programme, apps can be published as standalone solutions, becoming available via the web or app stores or remain within the Digital Health Hub ecosystem, ready for further development or funding.
With the success of both cohorts, the Digital Health Hub is proving to be a replicable and scalable model for digital innovation in healthcare, bringing better tools to the patients and professionals who need them most.
About Cogniss
Cogniss is a no-code ecosystem that enables healthcare experts and organisations to create advanced patient-facing digital health apps, without any need for coding. Its unique point-and-click interface empowers healthcare innovators to build highly customized apps, at a fraction of the time and cost required by traditional code-based development.
About Health Innovation East
We believe that great ideas only make a difference for our health when they are put into practice. We are a team of expert advisors and programme leaders passionate about helping the best innovations in health and care reach the people, places and problems where they bring most benefit. As the regional innovation arm of the NHS our collective skillset and work are at the forefront of the advances being made across health and care. We work on technology enabled change programmes and improve care pathways alongside clinicians and managers. We also support the health and life sciences industry to position products for use across the healthcare system.