21st August 2018
Innovative clinical services tech firm, C7 Health, has accelerated the build process of its healthcare software platform thanks to significant financial support from the Midlands Engine Investment Fund’s (MEIF) Proof of Concept (POC) & Early Stage Fund.
Part of a £300,000 finance package, underwritten by Mercia Fund Managers, including £150,000 from MEIF POC and £150,000 from Mercia EIS funds, the cash injection has enabled the firm to build and test the platform that will streamline the process of essential diagnostic scans for patients - minimising administration for GPs and reducing waiting times for NHS users.
Set up in April this year in Henley-in-Arden, Warwickshire, C7 Health is the brainchild of Phil Webb, former chief technology officer at medical tech giant EMIS Group. With some NHS users waiting up to six weeks for their ultrasound scans and over 40 million diagnostic scans directed from England’s 7,500 GP surgeries every year, Phil spotted an opportunity to modernise the current process - with GPs, diagnostic providers and most importantly patients all set to benefit.
The MEIF funding has meant that the first version of the platform is now complete and C7 Health will begin work with its first ultrasound customer, Diagnostic World, to service GPs across England this month.
Phil Webb, CEO of C7 Health, said:
“As a clinical services-led company, C7 Health’s mantra is to work shoulder-to-shoulder with healthcare providers to deliver solutions that will benefit patients – rather than develop products that are great in theory, but fail to make a real difference.
“The idea of creating a software platform that enables GPs to send automated instructions to their diagnostic providers, rather than going through a convoluted administrative process, is something that can revolutionise diagnostics in the NHS – however, I would not have had the means to build this without equity finance.”
“The West Midlands is brimming with talent, and I expect to appoint a minimum of three employees within the coming months as we begin helping patients on the ground. With C7 Health looking to serve GPs throughout the UK, Warwickshire’s central location is also a massive benefit to the business.”
Ken Cooper, MD at the British Business Bank, commented:
“The Midlands Engine Investment Fund has been established to support the growth of companies like C7 Health. This funding, via Mercia Fund Managers, will provide a real opportunity for this Midlands-based company to make a national impact in improving patient care.”
Commenting on the investment, Julian Dennard, Fund Principal at Mercia, said:
“We are excited to work with Phil, a CEO with extensive industry experience, who has created a platform that increases the efficiency of service delivery with an innovative technology at its core. This funding will allow C7 Health to further develop its software as it offers an exciting opportunity to truly disrupt the healthcare sector.”
Jonathan Browning, Chair of the Coventry and Warwickshire LEP, said:
“Coventry and Warwickshire has a long-standing pedigree of innovation. Many of our companies are leaders in research and development, and we have a very strong digital sector, and C7 Health is an example of that.
“Its cutting-edge work will bring tangible benefits and this funding through the Midlands Engine Investment Fund will accelerate bringing its app to market for the benefit of all.”
The Midlands Engine Investment Fund project is supported financially by the European Union using funding from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) as part of the European Structural and Investment Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020 and the European Investment Bank.
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