Delivered by the Health Innovation Network in partnership with Cogniss and Amazon Web Services (AWS), the challenge will support a cohort of innovators to build pilot-ready women's health apps without code, supported with pathways to NHS adoption. 

Closing the gap in women's health innovation 

Women's health has long been under-researched, under-funded and underserved. According to the British Heart Foundation, women are 50% more likely than men to be misdiagnosed following a heart attack and female-specific conditions remain chronically underfunded compared to their impact on patients and health systems. As the Women and Equalities Select Committee reported, approximately 2% of overall public research funding in the UK is dedicated to reproductive health and childbirth, while past research has shown that five times more research is conducted into erectile dysfunction than premenstrual syndrome. This is staggering considering that 19% of men are affected by erectile dysfunction, while 90% of women have premenstrual syndrome. 

The 10-Year Health Plan for England: Fit for the Future, published in July 2025, commits to shift health and care services in England from analogue to digital, from hospital-based to community-based care and from sickness to prevention. The Ripple Women's Digital Health Challenge aims to deliver on each of those shifts within the women's health sector by giving innovators the infrastructure and pathways to create practical digital tools that can be piloted and adopted into NHS services. 

About the programme 

Over 12 months, a cohort of innovators will be supported through a structured app-building programme using Cogniss's no-code technology, with adoption and piloting support from the Health Innovation Network, secure and scalable infrastructure from AWS and access to resources and networks across delivery partners. Ripple's cohort model selects the most promising applicants to join a structured programme, guiding them step by step to a pilot-ready app with a clear route to adoption. Two winners will also receive tailored guidance and enhanced visibility. 

Innovations are invited to address priorities for women's health including, but not limited to, menopause, maternal and perinatal care, gynaecological cancers, fertility, mental health, pelvic and cardiovascular health, to improve health equity. 

Richard Stubbs, Health Innovation Yorkshire & Humber chief executive and chair of the Health Innovation Network, said: ‘Women's health is a national priority. Through Ripple we aim to rapidly develop the most promising women's health innovations and get them into the hands of the clinicians and patients more quickly. Working in partnership in this way means we can go further and faster, to support the government's ambitions for a more digital health service.'

Applications now open 

Applications are now open and close 29 October 2025, with judging in December and the programme beginning in February 2026. 

Innovators can find more information and apply at: www.ripplechallenge.org/womens-digital-health-challenge-2025