OurPath is building tech to save your health

by Startacus Admin

Last week we took a look at Elemental Software, a social prescribing digital platform that connects patients, health and social care professionals and community health & wellness providers.

This week we continue the Tech for Good / Health-Tech theme, with a look at pioneering HealthTech startup OurPath who recently closed a £500k fundraising round and secured a NHS commission to pilot the company's tech. 

According to OurPath, one in three people in the UK have pre-diabetes and 70% of these will develop type 2 diabetes if they don’t change their lifestyle. Treating the condition costs the NHS over £9bn a year. 

OurPath, which combines digital technology with lifestyle changes to help people live more active lives and prevent or lessen symptoms of type 2 diabetes, has recently secured a £500k VC and private angel investment round, and, successfully been commissioned by the NHS. 

The London based startup was founded last year by former Cambridge University scientist Mike Gibbs and Oxford University engineer Chris Edson, who spotted a gap in the market for a solution which combines technology with live support and educational content.

Gibbs, 27, and Edson, 29 first met at Monitor Deloitte, the strategy consultancy, advising the NHS, healthcare charities and global pharmaceutical companies.

They saw first-hand the huge impact type 2 diabetes has on vast swathes of the population and its horrific consequences. They knew, too, the billions of pounds the NHS spends every year treating type 2 diabetes — and how much taxpayers’ money could be saved if fewer people got the condition in the first place through effective prevention. 

The £500,000 investment comes from a number of backers, including 500 Startups — an American venture capital firm, Bethnal Green Ventures — an accelerator for start-ups with a social purpose, and private angels. 

OurPath customers are sent an activity tracker and wireless scales, and are assigned a mentor to help them through the lifestyle changes they'll need to make over a 6-week programme. This includes making adjustments to their diet, setting achievable goals and receiving interactive content every day to keep them motivated. The whole programme is connected to an app, which allows users to monitor their progress. It costs £149. 

The results so far have been impressive. Since it launched in June 2016, hundreds of people looking to improve their lifestyle have gone through the programme, resulting in an average weight loss of 5.3kg and a 50% reduction in risk of type 2 diabetes. 

As a result, alongside being available to consumers, OurPath has also become the first digital behavioural change programme to manage type 2 diabetes to be commissioned by the NHS.

If the pilot — which is being rolled out across GP practices in north west London this month — is successful, the company’s technology is likely to be adopted by the NHS in other parts of the country, with doctors prescribing OurPath for their patients who have type 2 diabetes or might be at risk of it.

The company has plans to target international markets, and we'll keep an eye on their journey as they track the path to success. 

If Health Tech is your thing you might also want to read about disruptive health tech startup Thriva who recently raised £1.5m and want to make biochemical monitoring as normal and habitual as stepping onto a set of weighing scales.

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Published on: 18th June 2017