NPIF investment helps healthtech start-up boost workplace wellbeing  

Moodbeam, a maker of wearable mental wellbeing devices, has pioneered a new model to  help businesses and their staff through the COVID-19 pandemic. It follows two rounds of  investment totaling £450,000 from NPIF-Mercia Equity Finance, which is managed by  Mercia Fund Managers and is part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.  

The innovative wearable device, called Moodbeam One, was originally designed to allow  users to log their mood and monitor their emotional wellbeing – or that of their children,  students, patients or employees. The device then links to an app, giving real-time insights  into how someone’s moods change over time and showing them patterns and trends to help  them make positive changes.  

The Hull-based firm was set up in 2016 by the Gadget Shop founder and Red5 co-founder  Jonathan Elvidge, and former journalist Christina Colmer McHugh, who came up with the  idea after her daughter began experiencing anxiety in school.  

The initial £200,000 investment in 2019 saw Moodbeam bring its device to market following  18 months of prototype testing. The additional £250,000 funding later that year – £50,000 of  which was through NPIF and £200,000 from a high net worth angel investor – provided the  resources to develop the dashboard and identify the next iteration of the device and  prospective markets.  

When the latest production version landed in Q3 2019, a fifth of the stock was pre-ordered  by both consumers and organisations. New features in 2020 include a real time dashboard  for team leaders and managers to see quantifiable data across teams to help identify issues  or concerns as they happen. These features are already being trialed in the construction and  banking industry.  

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Moodbeam’s new organisational model that has sold in  hundreds, rather than single amounts. It has helped businesses stay in real-time contact  with their staff members while working remotely, as well as monitoring the health and  wellbeing of frontline staff. Consumers have also purchased the device through the  Moodbeam website shop and distributor Amazon. 

In addition to product development, the NPIF investment has allowed the company to double  its headcount in 18 months, from two co-founders to four full time members of staff and  multiple contractors.  

Christina Colmer McHugh, Founder and Director at Moodbeam, said: “The support from  NPIF and Mercia has been incredible. These investments have helped us to continue to  innovate and grow throughout our journey, bringing a valuable product to market at a crucial  time for us all. This pandemic saw employers around the world enter completely unchartered  waters and, in many cases, the ability to gauge the emotional wellbeing of team members  from physical cues was lost overnight. Our device has been a lifeline for those businesses  and individuals and we’re incredibly proud of that.  

“The device dashboard previously allowed individuals to manage multiple users and see  anonymised aggregated data to show highs and lows. Moodbeam has now pivoted that  offering to provide identifiable team data and real time team engagement to give leaders the  ability to gauge staff morale and productivity. This new feature has been introduced during  the coronavirus crisis, however it will help prepare businesses for earlier, quicker  communication during their working day in the weeks and months to come.  

“The consumer model will always be there and lies at the heart of our creation, but for now  our focus is within the B2B and supporting industries. I am excited to see where we can take  the product, business and team in the future as we continue to expand into new markets and  territories.”  

Simon Crabtree, Investment Manager at Mercia, said:

“The NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance  investment really helped take Moodbeam to the next level. Since then, the business has  developed a unique market-leading product with an accompanying platform that allows  companies to receive feedback on their staff’s motivation in real-time. With the effects of the  pandemic still being felt, it offers crucial support to companies when they need it most. It’s an  exciting period for Moodbeam, and we look forward to working with them on their future  growth trajectory.”  

Mark Wilcockson at British Business Bank said:

“NPIF has a strong track record of  supporting trailblazing companies in the North’s emerging healthtech sector, providing vital  funding that creates jobs and enables companies to grow. Moodbeam is an excellent  example of a business that is excelling quickly and developing a product that is crucial in  improving the wellbeing of individuals, both in work and in their personal lives.” 

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.  

ENDS  

For more information about Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, please visit  www.npif.co.uk.  

ENDS 

Contact 
Amy Cantrill, MC2 
[email protected] 
0161 236 1352 

About the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund  

• The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund will invest in Microfinance, Business  Loans and Equity Finance sub-funds which will offer financing ranging from £25,000  to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses secure the funding  they need for growth and development. 

^• The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is operated by British Business Financial  Services Limited, wholly owned by British Business Bank, the UK’s national  

economic development bank. Established in November 2014, its mission is to make  finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively, enabling those  businesses to prosper, grow and build UK economic activity. 

• The Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund is supported by the European Regional  Development Fund, the European Investment Bank, the Department for Business,  Energy and Industrial Strategy and British Business Finance Limited, a British  Business Bank group company.  

• NPIF covers the following LEP areas: Tees Valley Combined Authority, Greater  Manchester, Cheshire and Warrington, Cumbria, Liverpool City Region, Lancashire,  Humber, Leeds City Region, Sheffield City Region, York, North Yorkshire and East  Riding. 

• The project is receiving up to £140,359,192 of funding from the England European  Regional Development Fund as part of the European Structural and Investment  Funds Growth Programme 2014-2020. The Department for Communities and Local 

Government is the Managing Authority for European Regional Development Fund.  Established by the European Union, the European Regional Development Fund  helps local areas stimulate their economic development by investing in projects  which will support innovation, businesses, create jobs and local community  

regenerations. For more information visit https://www.gov.uk/european-growth funding. 

• The funds in which Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund invests are open to  businesses with material operations, or planning to open material operations, in,  Yorkshire and the Humber, the North West and Tees Valley. 

About the British Business Bank 

The British Business Bank is the UK government’s economic development bank.  Established in November 2014, its mission is to make finance markets for smaller  businesses work more effectively, enabling those businesses to prosper, grow and build UK  economic activity. Its remit is to design, deliver and efficiently manage UK-wide smaller  business access to finance programmes for the UK government. 

The British Business Bank programmes are supporting more than £7.0bn of finance to over  91,000 smaller businesses (as at end of June 2019). 

As well as increasing both supply and diversity of finance for UK smaller businesses through  its programmes, the Bank works to raise awareness of the finance options available to  smaller businesses: 

• The Business Finance Guide (published in partnership with the ICAEW and a further 21  business and finance organisations) impartially sets out the range of finance options  available to businesses at all stages – from start-ups to SMEs and growing mid-sized  companies. Businesses can take the interactive journey at 

www.thebusinessfinanceguide.co.uk/bbb. 

• The new British Business Bank Finance Hub provides independent and impartial  information to high-growth businesses about their finance options, featuring short  films, expert guides, checklists and articles from finance providers to help make  their application a success. The new site also features case studies and learnings  from real businesses to guide businesses through the process of applying for  growth finance. 

As the holding company of the group operating under the trading name of British Business  Bank, British Business Bank plc is wholly owned by HM Government and is not authorised  or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority  (FCA). The British Business Bank operates under its own brand name through a number of  subsidiaries, none of which are authorised and regulated by the FCA.

British Business Bank plc and its principal operating subsidiaries are not banking institutions  and do not operate as such. A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc  and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.