Beautiful Voice health tech sings Innovate UK’s praises after growth support
Beautiful Voice, an Oxford-based health tech company, is reshaping speech therapy with its AI-driven platform, designed to support Speech and Language Therapists (SLTs) and their patients.
With tailored business growth support from Innovate UK, the company has secured critical funding, advanced its NHS partnerships and attracted significant investment. Beautiful Voice’s innovative solution is helping reduce pressures on healthcare providers while driving job creation and economic growth in the UK.
Beautiful Voice’s digital platform combines AI and gamification to support adults with communication challenges, including stroke survivors and individuals with Parkinson’s disease. Founded to address the overwhelming caseload faced by UK SLTs, the platform allows therapists to manage cases more effectively and enables patients to continue therapy exercises independently, achieving better clinical outcomes. Now recognised by the NHS, Beautiful Voice’s platform is a first-of-its-kind UK innovation, combining technology with practical health applications to improve quality of life for patients.
Andre Hallack, CEO of Beautiful Voice, says: “Our platform makes speech and language therapy more accessible, allowing people with communication difficulties to practise speaking at their own pace, improving their conditions.
“It supports SLTs to make more informed decisions more efficiently and deliver better care for more patients, ultimately helping to reduce NHS waiting lists and treatment costs.”
Strategic guidance for growth and investment
Beautiful Voice’s journey with Innovate UK Business Growth began in April 2023, with a tailored action plan developed by Innovation and Growth Specialist, Ross Clark, focusing on key steps in business model development, investment readiness and meeting regulatory requirements.
A critical step was securing Innovate UK’s Fast Start grant, which enabled co-design workshops with patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals through a collaboration with Sheffield Hallam University and the Stroke Association. These workshops helped identify essential product features, shaping a prototype that has since been embraced by early adopters and has drawn interest from investors, additional grants and potential clients.
Through Innovate UK Business Growth’s Invest-Ability Training in March 2024, Beautiful Voice participated in a trial pitch exercise designed to simulate real-world investor scenarios. This training, part of a broader programme that helps businesses refine their investment strategies, enabled the team to enhance their investor-ready pitch deck. The trial pitch received praise from a panel of investors, providing valuable feedback to strengthen their future funding prospects.
Andre adds: “Ross has been invaluable, signposting us to various support and funding opportunities, providing guidance whenever needed, and helping us navigate barriers throughout our journey. The Invest-Ability pathway gave us feedback that enhanced our confidence and capability to attract new investors.”
Ross also helped the company identify funding opportunities that align with its business objectives, leading to several Innovate UK grants, including a £180,000 Smart grant in partnership with St George’s University Hospitals in London and the £74,000 Women in Innovation award for co-founder Yun Bing.
Beautiful Voice has also benefitted from a £145,200 grant from the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in collaboration with the University of Manchester, supporting further platform development.
Beautiful Voice was also selected to join the KQ Labs accelerator—a programme devoted to helping start-ups transform healthcare through data-driven solutions—at the Francis Crick Institute in London, where it received additional funding and access to key resources.
These combined grants have enabled Beautiful Voice to refine its platform, conduct pilots within the NHS and build a foundation for expansion into the UK healthcare market.
Accelerating NHS partnerships and market expansion
Innovate UK Business Growth’s support has been instrumental in helping Beautiful Voice meet essential NHS standards, including securing UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) Class 1 medical clearance through a strategic Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) grant, and enabling a partnership with Medipex.
This enabled the company to register as an NHS supplier, opening doors to partnerships with NHS Trusts such as Livewell Southwest, Kent Community Health, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and University Hospitals of Derby and Burton. Beautiful Voice’s platform has also been piloted at other NHS hospitals, including Oxford University Hospitals and Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
This NHS recognition aligns with Beautiful Voice’s mission to make its platform accessible to patients and clinicians across the UK. The company’s reach now extends beyond the NHS to charities and private clinics, being recently featured in the Parkinson’s UK website.
Andre concludes: “Achieving NHS supplier status has been a pivotal moment for us. Innovate UK Business Growth’s support via the RTO grant guided us through regulatory requirements and positioned us as a credible partner for NHS healthcare providers.”
Impact through job creation and revenue growth
The support from Innovate UK Business Growth has had a positive impact on Beautiful Voice’s development. The company has grown its team from two to five employees, is now generating revenue and is seeking high growth. Beautiful Voice has plans to apply for further funding to conduct essential R&D and is well-positioned for continued expansion.
As the company continues to grow, it is driving meaningful change across the UK by improving access to high-quality speech therapy and reducing pressures on the NHS. By enhancing healthcare efficiency and supporting economic growth, Beautiful Voice is contributing to a healthier, more resilient society and strengthening the UK’s position as a leader in health tech innovation.
Achieving NHS supplier status has been a pivotal moment for us. Innovate UK Business Growth’s support via the RTO grant guided us through regulatory requirements and positioned us as a credible partner for NHS healthcare providers.
– Andre Hallack, CEO of Beautiful Voice
Related programme
Women in Innovation
Enabling brilliant women across the UK to fully achieve their vision for their businesses and change the world, while championing and celebrating gender diversity throughout UK innovation.