Garrett Sprague and Alexandra (Alex) Reissig both started their one-year full-time MBA in September 2019. Halfway through their studies in March 2020, like much of the rest of the world, they were impacted by the Covid pandemic, resulting in all of their classes moving online.
"Although it was hard to transition from in-person to virtual classes, it actually gave Garrett and I a bit more free time to discuss and develop our business idea," says Alex.
"We realised during the programme that we had shared interests around improving the often challenging experience older people and their families face as we age. I had worked in home-health consulting for a few years and Garrett was driven by his own personal experiences."
"We knew we wanted to solve a big problem," says Garrett, "and with projections showing there will be one billion people over 65 around the world by 2030, helping older adults live independently was a big problem. We tried and tested a few iterations until we settled on the current vision - using everyday wearables and digital health devices to predict future risks."
Alex recounts the support from across the Business School during their time on the MBA.
"We reached out to many of our professors to get their feedback on the concept and they helped to introduce us to some of their relevant contacts. So, looking back, although Covid did present many challenges, Smplicare was something very positive that came out of it. We even met with the Dean Professor Wendy Loretto, who has been very supportive of Smplicare throughout with her deep knowledge of the social care sector."
To develop their idea further, they were one of only 12 start-ups to be selected from over 100 applicants for the 2020 Summer Accelerator programme run by Edinburgh Innovations. While it was challenging to take on an intensive accelerator programme while writing dissertations, the pair used the structure of the programme to move their solution further and faster, resulting in a simple prototype ahead of pitch day.
Through a connection made during the Summer Accelerator programme, they were introduced to alum Adrian Smales (MBA 2005) whose PhD research in health informatics at Edinburgh Napier was very relevant to their business idea.
As a result, Adrian joined as Chief Innovation Officer and the third co-founder of Smplicare in 2021. Adrian brings unique expertise at the intersection of medicine, specifically around frailty and geriatrics, and data science. He is deeply passionate about the potential for low-cost devices to have a sweeping impact on improving human health.
The business was then incorporated in June 2021 and a minimum viable product was launched in November, which allowed them to test the concept with focus groups and organisational partners. It also served as the foundation for their successful UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) funding application.
Funding success
In July 2022, they secured £750,000 from UKRI's 'Healthy Ageing Challenge' and private investors for one of the UK's largest research engagements of its kind involving AI, wearables, and older adults.
As part of the study, 300 individuals over 55 years old with a recent history of falls will be given a mainstream wearable device—such as Fitbit, Garmin, or Polar—to produce data that will enable Smplicare to create an AI-powered algorithm that can predict and proactively alert to the likelihood of a future fall.
Initially, the study will focus on better predicting the likelihood of falls, but the company will also gather a range of valuable insights impacting the UK's elderly population such as body composition, digital inclusion, and behaviour change.
As a result, they plan to launch their digital platform inspiring older people to better manage their own health for widespread use next year.
"People often say 'older adults don't use technology'. That's just not true anymore," says Garrett.
"Technology spending for adults over 65—including wearables—exploded during the pandemic, up 350% by some estimates. It's not that older people don't use technology—the reality is that they have a low tolerance for bad technology. Smplicares' technology is simple and allows users to monitor and manage their own health data via our bespoke mobile dashboard which is codesigned alongside older adults.
"Our goal at Smplicare is to empower the future of independent ageing. By using everyday wearables and digital health devices, we're harnessing the data from devices people already have, to deliver actionable insights that promote wellbeing as we age.
"The need is immediate and immense, given the rapidly ageing population. This study is one of the largest ever conducted, and it will provide a huge amount of data that we will use to develop better and better tools to enable individuals to manage their personal health and maintain their independence in later life."
Smplicare is supported in the study by a team of leading data scientists at The Data Lab, Scotland's Innovation Centre for Data and AI, who will analyse user data and validate the AI-powered models.
Business School connections
The startup has now hired five more people, each bringing their knowledge and experience to grow the business.
The most recent employee to join was Joseph Haenlein who has taken on the role of Marketing Associate. He has just completed his MSc in International Business and Emerging Markets at the Business School—the fourth alum to be involved.
The connection with the Business School is undoubtedly strong and despite being extremely busy with the launch of the business, Garrett and Alex have already found time to support MBA students.
"Earlier this year, I was invited by lecturer Alessandro Rosiello to judge the pitch competition as part of the New Venture Creature course on the MBA," says Garrett.
"Alex also provided a presentation to the class earlier that week. It's great to connect with the new classes of students. There's huge potential for the MBA programme to cultivate entrepreneurship that can support Scotland and the world, and Alex and I are very happy to help."
Can you help support the growth of Smplicare?
"We are looking to connect with alumni and others who can help us accelerate the growth of the business," says Garrett. "Introductions to partners across councils, retirement living communities, and housing associations to support research recruitment is our priority at present and we've established partnerships with some of the UK's largest.
"We're also looking to complete a funding round in Autumn 2023 so introductions to investors who might be supportive of our vision would also be great. Plus we're always looking for expert advisors and feel that there are many who might be able to support us from across the Business School alumni communities. We'd love to hear from you if you think you could help."
Connect with Garrett directly: