Founder of GrandCare UK puts growth plans in motion
Cloud-based, interactive monitoring system, GrandCare Systems Limited (GrandCare) based at Airport City in Manchester, has received a £550,000 investment from NPIF – Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
GrandCare supports specialist adult and elderly care in either a commercial supported living or residential home that enables vulnerable people to remain in their home. The technology system gives care patients the ability to stay connected to family, friends, carers and healthcare professionals, whilst improving the general quality of living. The large touchscreen product which is placed in the home of the recipient, provides the individual with social communications, instructions and reminders. GrandCare 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 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. It will also allow GrandCare to invest in product development, adding increased functionality to its suite of products through the use of a bespoke system. The funding will also allow the business to create up to 10 new jobs in the Greater Manchester area.
Backed by a dedicated management team with first-hand experience of the sector, founder Stella Warnes is highly experienced in sales and marketing for technology businesses. She established GrandCare UK alongside Matthew Warnes, who has over 10 years’ experience working with technological support devices for the residential and care homes. GrandCare is expected to experience significant demand for its product in the coming years, due to the growing number of supported living homes and the ageing population.
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.”
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.”
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.
