Mental health tracking spinout secures £1.8m investment
Digital platform CareLoop, which provides therapeutic care for severe mental illness, has secured £1.8 million in funding to push growth and provide accessible care for prospective patients.
The University of Manchester spin-out provides patients with digital support while enabling clinicians to remotely monitor and track their symptoms.
Following the investment, CareLoop has confirmed plans to continue developing its technology to encompass other severe mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder.
The funding comes from four sources; two funds both managed by Praetura, the GMC Life Sciences Fund , Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund; SFC Capital; but also from Verge HealthTech Fund a Singapore-based VC firm investing in healthcare technologies, which counts Impact Ventures by J&J Foundation among its investors.
Launched in 2021 by mental health experts Professor Shôn Lewis, Professor John Ainsworth and Professor Sandra Bucci, who are academics at the University of Manchester, along with Zoë Blake (CEO), who previously delivered 10x growth at the digital mental health platform Kooth plc, and COO Dr Pauline Whelan, previously co-director of the GM.Digital unit at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation and the University of Manchester’s Digital Health Software lead.
The company, which is set to open its first headquarters in Manchester’s new Sister innovation district, is backed by over a decade of research, including five clinical trials.
The platform was recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) Early Value Assessment programme (EVA), which recommends products for use in the NHS. CareLoop has also identified cash savings for the NHS of between five and 47 times the cost of licensing its product, depending on the severity of each condition.
Zoë Blake, CEO of CareLoop, said other digital mental health tools tend to focus on wellbeing and common mental health problems such as anxiety and mild to moderate depression. She said: “Few have the robust clinical evidence of efficacy required to be called a digital therapeutic. Our mission has always been to provide accessible care where it’s needed to those living with the most severe and enduring mental illnesses.”
Sim Singh-Landa, investment director and head of the GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura, said the company is a testament to the quality of spinouts coming out of the University of Manchester, and the North West’s universities more generally.
Scarlett Chen, Managing Partner at Verge HealthTech Fund, said: “At Verge, we back healthtech solutions with global impact, and CareLoop fits that vision perfectly.”
The GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura is a £20m investment fund by Greater Manchester Combined Authority, Enterprise Cheshire and Warrington, Bruntwood SciTech and Praetura Ventures. The fund was launched in May 2022 by the Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and supports life sciences businesses based in the region or those who are committed to scaling here.
The £660m Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIFII) covers the entire North of England and provides loans from £25k to £2m and equity investment up to £5m to help a range of small and medium sized businesses to start up, scale up or stay ahead.
Pictured, from L-R: Stefano Smith (Investment Associate at Praetura Ventures), Zoë Blake (CEO at CareLoop), Professor Shôn Lewis (Chief Medical Officer and co-inventor at CareLoop) Dr Pauline Whelan (COO at CareLoop) and Sim Singh-Landa (Investment Director at Praetura Ventures and Head of the GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura)
