The GM LINK Programme has empowered companies to connect with policy makers, service designers, and key stakeholders in health, social care, and climate sectors across Greater Manchester. By fostering these connections, participating teams have refined their solutions, brought them closer to market, and achieved remarkable breakthroughs in real-world settings. Explore their inspiring journeys and accomplishments below.
Howz offers a non-intrusive monitoring system using IoT sensors and machine learning to help at-risk people retain their independence while flagging problems before they become a crisis. The aim is to reduce admissions to the hospital and care homes, reduce anxiety for those providing care and support, and enable prioritisation of precious resources in the community.
Howz joined the GM LINK programme with a mission to boost user testing, insights, and referrals by creating a network of staff carers trained in installation and data analysis. This initiative aimed to uncover key learnings for solution improvement and demonstrate the positive impact on staff engagement and caregiver experience.
Since completing the programme, Howz has established connections with Reading Borough Council, as well as new departments within GMCA and NHS Greater Manchester, to explore applications of their solution in social care. As a partner in Cisco’s Lister Alliance ecosystem, they are at the forefront of shaping the future of healthcare technology.
Learn more about their work here.
Proxximos combats the harmful and costly spread of communicable disease in hospitals & care homes through their next generation digital contact tracing solution, which is instant, precise and automated. Healthcare settings are then safer for patients, residents & staff whilst saving time and money.
Proxximos leveraged the 10-week GM LINK programme to showcase their solution and access expert support for technological advancement. The programme’s workshops and mentorship helped them forge new relationships, strengthen existing ones, and refine their strategy for scaling impact.
Since completing the programme, Proxximos has engaged with teams across GMCA and NHS Greater Manchester, as well as the Growth Company, to explore applications in adult and children’s social care. Their digital solution for infection prevention and control is now live and operational in Wythenshawe’s Respiratory ICU, delivering measurable benefits to patients, families, and the community while improving NHS resource efficiency.
Learn more about their work here.
By using a digital platform and app with gamification and incentives, Care Friends proposes to empower the current healthcare and care workforce to become recruiters at scale across Greater Manchester. This technology rewards users for hiring individuals new to the healthcare sector, thus expanding system capacity.
Care Friends utilized the GM LINK programme to enhance their employee referral platform, focusing on improving automated features, advancing rapid candidate response functions, and developing a “talent bank” feature to nurture new healthcare workers. Collaboration with mentors during the programme proved invaluable, accelerating approval processes and shaping their growth trajectory.
Post-programme, Care Friends has expanded their network through introductions to the Growth Company and new departments across the GMCA and NHS Greater Manchester, laying the groundwork for exploring new markets and growth opportunities.
Learn more about their work here.
In-House Health was developed to help organisations establish and eliminate the root cause of work-related ill health. Their M.E.T.A programme is a framework that enables them to measure, evaluate, transform, and analyse the state of health and wellbeing in organisations to improve workforce and care outcomes. They’re combining technology and healthcare expertise to reduce work-related ill health and improve workforce, organisational and care outcomes.
In-House Health had been selected to participate in the first two programmes and has seen significant advancement over this journey. They found the first programme to be beneficial to the development of the M.E.T.A Programme and key in getting connected with quality mentors. Throughout the second programme, they advanced their Technology Readiness Level (TRL), identified a new target audience, and refined their MVP, launching the M.E.T.A Audit to benchmark and assess operational frameworks effectively. Since then, In-House Health has secured a client and collaborated with fellow participant, Purple Transform, demonstrating the power of GM LINK in fostering innovation and collaboration.
Learn more about their work here.
CyberLiver is a late clinical-stage digital medicine and medical devices platform company focused on managing and treating Advanced Liver Diseases. Their AI-powered platform providing personalised interventions and resources has driven the development of the BeeHappy & Sober Program, an early detection and interventional digital mental health hub integrating mental and physical health services enabling holistic care and streamlining access to resources.
CyberLiver’s journey through two GM LINK programmes has been transformative. The first programme enabled them to invest time in deeply understanding healthcare challenges, while the second saw their Technology Readiness Level advance with real patients benefiting from their app. They’ve indicated the programme’s impact in boosting their creditability within the healthcare sector, connecting them with key stakeholders and paving the way for impactful innovation in preventive healthcare management.
Learn more about their work here.
Nemiah is a hardware and software integration leader specialising in creating innovative, high-quality solutions that address the unique needs of various building environments. CosmOS is an advanced Smart Building Operating System integrating diverse technologies into a unified platform, optimising energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, and enhancing building management with real-time data analysis and IoT integration.
Their plan for this 10-week programme consisted of developing a robust energy predication model for their testbed, Leigh Works, to optimise energy usage, and enhance overall facility efficiency. They used insights gained during the programme to guide their work with the Energy Innovation Agency on a demonstrator project involving diverse datasets. Through GM LINK, Nemiah built connections with Wigan Council, Rochdale Council, and Praetura Ventures, unlocking opportunities for local impact and investment.
Learn more about their work here.
MindCally is an innovative mental well-being platform designed to build resilience and accountability in business leaders. By offering structured routines, interactive sessions, and a supportive community, Mind to Mood aims to empower entrepreneurs to prioritise self-care, enhance mental health, and achieve sustainable success.
Their objective when embarking on this 10-week programme was to refine MindCally through expert feedback, validate their product, and strengthen their market strategy. During this programme, Mind to Mood has successfully trained their solution on over 10,000 databases and developed a complementary app to enhance MindCally’s functionality and experience. The team is now focusing on the launch of the M2M Summit, an exclusive event offering academic insights and practical workshops designed to build habits that prevent burnout, amplifying their mission to support mental well-being.
Learn more about their work here.
Purple Transform supports organisations who are overwhelmed with data to process it at the same pace that it is generated. With 30% of commercial building energy consumption wasted (US EPA), Estate Smarts identifies ways to improve buildings energy performance such as simple energy saving actions in buildings, best practices, and buildings needing improvement across an estate.
Purple Transform entered the GM LINK programme with a focus on developing and testing a platform prototype for deployment in real-world settings. The programme facilitated introductions to the Energy Innovation Agency, Wigan Council, and GMCA’s Connected Places programme, enabling them to deploy a demo environment successfully. They are now in discussions to apply their solution across various settings, showcasing their potential to drive impactful change in infrastructure development.
Learn more about their work here.