Digital therapeutics platform CareLoop closes £1.8m funding round

- University of Manchester spinout CareLoop has closed a £1.8 million funding round co-led by GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura and Verge HealthTech Fund
- CareLoops provides digital therapeutics to people living with severe mental illness, including schizophrenia and psychosis
- CareLoop will use the investment to build out its technology to cover additional mental health conditions, including bipolar disorder
University of Manchester spinout CareLoop has closed a £1.8 million seed funding round to support the growth of its digital therapeutics platform.
CareLoop provides support to patients living with severe mental health conditions, including psychosis, schizophrenia and postnatal depression by using predictive software to monitor patient’s wellbeing and alert clinicians to signs of escalating symptoms, helping to prevent mental crises or relapse.
CareLoop will use the seed funding to continue developing its platform to cover other severe mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder.
Zoë Blake, chief executive of CareLoop, said: “While there are numerous digital mental health tools on the market, they tend to focus on wellbeing and common mental health problems such as anxiety and mild to moderate depression.
“Our mission has always been to provide accessible care where it’s needed to those living with the most severe and enduring mental illnesses.
“With approval from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), over 10 years of data and now the backing of key and well-connected investment partners, we’re looking forward to enhancing the way mental health support is delivered to improve the lives of many millions living with these conditions.”
The seed round was co-led by the GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura and Singapore-based VC firm, Verge HealthTech Fund.
Additional investment came from NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance (part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund) and SFC Capital.
Sim Singh-Landa, investment director and head of the GMC Life Sciences Fund By Praetura, said: “We understood CareLoop’s mission, vision for transforming severe mental illness aftercare and the wider roadmap from our very first meeting with the team.
“Fast-forward to the present day and we’re incredibly excited to not only be supporting the company with investment but also the more than money guidance and network support it needs to scale and deploy its technology across the NHS and other global health institutions.”
CareLoop was founded in 2021 by University of Manchester professors Shôn Lewis, John Ainsworth and Sandra Bucci from, alongside Blake and chief operating officer Pauline Whelan, who was previously co-director of the GM.Digital unit at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Manchester’s digital health software lead.
Its digital therapeutics platform was recommended by NICE in March 2024, following the organisation’s review of digital health technologies for managing symptoms of psychosis in adults and young people.
The company plans to open its first headquarters in Manchester’s £1.7bn Sister innovation district in the near future.