The innovation experience: scaling up. What do you need to secure investment and grow your business? We asked two innovators we have worked with in 2020/21 to tell us their stories. W e know how important it is for innovators to access capital to develop your ideas and scale your business, but with so any options out there, where do you start and who should you trust? for them and help them write winning applications. We can facilitate partnerships with commercial organisations or investors and connect innovators with appropriate entrepreneurship schemes. and tips for others looking at funding options. The Little Journey is a preparation and support tool to help Dr Chris Evans is Creator of the Little Journey app procedures and surgery, including a smartphone app that uses VR to familiarise them with the hospital. It has been adopted across more than 60 hospitals to date. Weve been working with Eastern AHSN for a few years now and theyve really helped us understand where we can grow and how to get there. We have had great traction in acute care settings, but when my team attended the scale-up academy run in partnership between Eastern AHSN and Cartezia (and sponsored by the AHSN) it really helped us realise the potential for our and life sciences. As a result, weve been able to engage a contract research organisation and pharmaceutical partners to use Little Journey to support children who are taking part in a clinical trial across 11 countries and in Weve been working with Eastern AHSN for a few years now and theyve really helped us understand where we can grow and how to get there. tailor it to the needs of their patients. We are learning from We were delighted to be accepted onto the NHS Innovation Accelerator (NIA) in March 2021 with support from Eastern AHSN. The NIA is delivered in partnership with NHS England and the AHSNs and supports uptake and spread of proven, impactful A large part of the evidence base came from the evaluation Eastern AHSN conducted in 2019 and the ongoing support the team have given us has been really helpful in developing and proving the sustainability of the business, which was important in our application. Accessing funding can be hard and it wont come overnight. As a clinician it was somewhat of a new world to me but over a sustained period of support from Eastern AHSN weve been introduced to investors and NHS stakeholders, aided with successful applications to accelerator programmes and been supported in so many ways that I didnt fully realise the value of at the time, but can now see were fundamental in our growth Click here to read more about Little Journeys impact as we started out. MediShout is the only app in Ash Kalraiya is CEO of MediShout problems; so clinicians can focus on delivering patient care Grant funding has been a lifeline in our growth in recent years, but the key is understanding what funders are looking for. Eastern AHSN funded a health economic impact assessment which showed the potential of our innovation on healthcare services. This was a big part of our successful application to the NHS Innovation Accelerator in 2020, and we were then thrilled to receive a 1 million investment from a seed venture capital company for which Eastern AHSN had provided an endorsement for us. Growing your business requires funding, profile, customers and evidence Eastern AHSN has been amazing in helping us develop all four. My advice to other innovators is to remember that funding is only part of the equation for scaling your business. Eastern AHSN also brokered a pilot with Cambridge University from Innovate UK to run it. These relationships are core to delivering impact for patients and working within Eastern Eastern AHSN will be funding a pilot at Royal Papworth Hospital using MediShout with QR codes to enable that are running out, to ensure they can be topped up. This has enabled us to invest in our technology while trust for free. Early feedback has been great. Growing your business requires Learn more about how MediShout connects healthcare teams and systems to enable them to report any issues and improve Click here to read more about MediShout in our impact story Eastern AHSN has been amazing in helping us develop all four. Share this article Get involved Do you have a great idea that could make a positive health impact? Click here for more information