The early-stage funding round was led by RYSE Asset Management and brings the company total to £1m.
"The social care sector was facing enormous pressures even before COVID-19 hit. It is also a sector that has been left behind when it comes to technology. The pressure was already there, but when COVID-19 hit, many care settings realised that they simply had to address their data systems. Again, and again, Care Managers on the front line have told us the most significant benefit of using Log my Care was the time saved on paperwork and administration, which has a big impact on costs as well as care quality. It is also clear that identifying COVID-19 cases early and reacting quickly is crucial in preventing further outbreaks, so we wanted to build tools that will help care settings do that at the earliest opportunity."
The company has received a cash grant from the UK government to adapt its cell preservation gel for coronavirus testing samples.
"In June, 30,000 COVID-19 tests in the UK were recorded as invalid. One reason behind this higher than expected figure was that scientists were unable to preserve the integrity of swab samples for longer than 72 hours, leading to the government committing to having swab test results completed within 24 hours. However, when testing tens of thousands of swab tests, backlogs are inevitably going to occur, meaning swab tests need to be stored so that they can be tested later. What our solution provides is an ability to store samples for up to two weeks meaning test samples do not become redundant after 72 hours, thereby providing scientists more time to handle large volumes of swab tests."
Catapult Ventures has backed the Manchester based digital health start-up to fund product trials.
"Healthbox CIC, is really excited to work alongside MyHelp. This new innovative product has huge potential not only to save money to an already overstretched mental health system but will also support people and, as an added bonus, save counsellors’ time."
The financing will support clinical trials, product development and team expansion as the business pursues international regulatory approvals.
"Our work in the US and the success of the trials we have run to date have demonstrated the potential of our technology and encouraged us to pursue other applications. With this financing and the backing of our investors we can accelerate our mission of delivering effective and non-invasive solutions for some of the most common and debilitating medical conditions."
