NPIF Maven Equity Finance has invested £550,000 in Cloud-based, interactive monitoring system, GrandCare Systems. The investment will enable the business to increase sales with existing customers including local authorities, the NHS and housing associations, and develop its UK market reach with new customers in the care home sector. The funding will also allow GrandCare to invest in product development, adding increased functionality to its suite of products through the use a bespoke system. The business will also create 10 new jobs in the Greater Manchester area.
GrandCare is a cloud based, interactive monitoring system that supports specialist adult and elderly care in either a commercial supported living or residential home that enables vulnerable elderly people to remain in their home. The system gives care patients the ability to stay connected to family, friends, carers and healthcare professionals, whilst improving general quality of living. The product is a large touchscreen that goes into the residence of the care recipient which provides the individual with social communications, instructions, reminders, medication prompts, and many other tools. The company also works with a wide range of programmable options to allow care-givers to monitor health, movement and medication without sacrificing the importance of privacy.
The UK market for homecare for the over 65s and supported living for younger adults with learning disabilities are experiencing growing demand driven by increased longevity for both groups and a growing trend for delivering care outside of formal care settings. The GrandCare solution is suitable for the growing number of supported living homes and given the aging population and pressures on providing human care for the increasing numbers of recipients, GrandCare is expected to experience significant demand for its product in the coming years.
Backed by a dedicated management team with first-hand experience of the sector, Founder, Stella Dunne, is highly experienced in sales and marketing for technology businesses and established GrandCare UK having been frustrated by finding only alarm-based system that rely on carers when seeking to support her mother in independent living. She founded the business alongside Matthew Warnes, who has over 10 years’ experience working with technological support devices for the residential and care homes.
Alex Rothwell, Investment Manager at Maven, said, “We’re delighted to support GrandCare at this stage in the company’s development, with a real addressable market and innovative system we look forward to working with the business as it expands its customer reach and invests in product development. Stella and the team are highly experienced in the sector and dedicated to driving the business forward, with an increasing demand for the company’s technology solution, the business is set to experience rapid growth in the coming years.”
Stella Warnes, Founder of GrandCare UK, said: “GrandCare are delighted to have the support of Maven backed by the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund. GrandCare is a software platform and our primary focus is to bring into one place a series of products to meet specific needs, and actions, helping people maintain their independence, whilst reducing the overall cost of care for providers in the UK. We have now purchased the code from GrandCare US to enable us to modify the system to provide our prospective customers integration in to their current platforms and modification to their current system to allow fundamental changes to keep GrandCare ahead of the competition and continue to provide the art of the possible.”
Sue Barnard of British Business Bank, said: “This investment exemplifies the work that NPIF is doing across the North of England, making a real and measurable difference to businesses, while helping to create a more prosperous regional economy.
“It’s great to have the opportunity to support business leaders like Stella on their mission to make a significant impact in health and social care in the North and further afield.”
The Northern Powerhouse 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.