HEALTH tech innovation start-up Elemental Software in Derry is investing £1.2 million in its business and has created eight additional jobs as it aims to drive export growth and appeal to new target sectors.
And its co-founders Leeann Monk and Jennifer Neff are targeting a five-fold increase in turnover to £5m in the next three years as the the company bids to exploit opportunities in Ireland, the Nordics, Canada and Australia.
Elemental specialises in social prescribing consultancy services and technology, bridging the gap between health, housing and communities with a range of digital solutions designed to support the strategy and practice of self-care and independence.
Chief operating officer Leeann Monk said: “Following an initial investment in R&D in 2017, our technology can make it easier for health and social care professionals to refer people with health risks such as mental health, to community based lifestyle interventions.
“This type of referral can reduce demand in GP time and ultimately keep people out of hospital for longer. This is imperative for global health services to operate and as public health budgets worldwide are coming under increasing pressures due to Covid-19, social prescribing has been identified as a growing sector.
“We were recently awarded a place on the new GP IT framework which is in effect a buyer’s catalogue for NHS organisations within primary care.
“This investment in R&D will help us to enhance the technical, security and governance standards to proactively win contracts available on the framework.”
Jennifer Neff, Elemental's chief executive, added: “We have entered into two new sectors since Covid-19 started, with the education and employment sectors using our technology to ensure that students and those looking for work get the support they need.
“Our customers in these sectors are seeing a positive impact on people's wellbeing already and we are looking forward to rolling this out across the UK, Ireland, and beyond.”
Elemental Software has experienced a 66 per cent increase in revenues in the past year. Invest NI has offered £317,810 of support towards its R&D project, the creation of the new jobs (all of which are in place) and marketing activities.
Invest NI’s director of innovation, research & development Dr Vicky Kell said: “We assisted Elemental Software to develop its social prescribing platform to include the ability to integrate with NHS systems, which has helped it win many new contracts, three in Scotland alone.
“This further investment in R&D is helping Elemental to refine its software and enable it to stay ahead of market trends, maintain business relevancy and will be a great selling point to help it expand into new geographical markets and sectors.”
