Since launching at the start of the pandemic, LCR Health Matters, a Liverpool-based health-tech business support programme, has helped to raise over £21 million for life sciences businesses across the City Region.
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In partnership with the Innovation Agency, Liverpool John Moores University and Growth Platform, the LCR Health Matters programme supports start-up and scale-up businesses by offering customised one-to-one advice and practical assistance. The programme helps companies to perfect their products and services through real-world validation, allowing business leaders to see the practical and commercial benefits of its products.
Since October 2019, the programme has worked with 50 companies across the City Region, providing support during one of the most pivotal periods for many businesses, especially those making innovative and pioneering moves in the health sector.
One of the businesses supported by LCR Health Matters was AIMES, the bespoke cloud-solution provider to the NHS. Assisting in its bid preparation, evaluation, and commercialisation, as well as the regulatory approval efforts and patient and public engagement, LCR Health Matters helped AIMES acquire over £660,000 in funding. This enabled the company to develop a workstream focussed on delivering AI into routine clinical care and identifying other use cases that its cloud solution OpenCARE, could address within the LCR research community, as well as addressing PPI concerns within the project.
Speaking about the experience with the programme, senior business development manager at AIMES, Anthony Shimmin, said: “The support from LCR Health Matters provided increased confidence in our decision making and highlighted areas of concern that we needed to address.”
Another business supported by LCR Health Matters was Kids’ Health Matters (KHM), a community interest company that supports additional education and training for those working in advanced clinical practice in women and children’s healthcare, including paediatrics, neonates, and midwifery.
With a primary focus on the delivery of products and services, KHM lacked the knowledge and industry connections required to scale the business. With the support of LCR Health Matters, KHM has been able to evidence the success and positive impact of its work. KHM is still working closely with the programme to produce its real-world validation report, which will allow the community interest company to have key conversations with NHS connections to drive sales and scale the business.
Programme manager at LCR Health Matters, Andy Cairns, said: “It has been a pleasure working with some of the most innovative and forward-thinking start-up and scale-up businesses across the City Region. Life sciences is one of the strongest performing sectors in the Liverpool City Region and with all the uncertainty over the last 18 months, we’re pleased to be in a position to continue to contribute to such a valued industry during one of the market’s toughest times.
“We have an aim to future-proof the sector and continue to create a space where businesses can bring their initiatives and technologies to market and improve health outcomes on a national and global level.”
