With targeted business growth support from Innovate UK, the company has secured over £1 million in sales, raised £750,000 in private investment, grown from two to ten employees, secured its first international contract in the UAE and now holds 100% of NHS Scotland’s digital theatre scheduling market.

Founded in 2019, Infix Support develops digital tools designed to boost surgical theatre efficiency. Its cloud-based software – Infix Schedule and Infix Inform – helps hospitals deliver more operations using existing resources, reducing costs while improving patient outcomes.

Dr Matthew Freer, CEO of Infix Support, explains: “Infix was created by clinicians to tackle the inefficiencies we encounter every day in surgical scheduling. Our solutions deliver measurable improvements – without the need for additional staff or infrastructure – helping to ease pressure on NHS services.”

Co-developing the roadmap to NHS-wide delivery

Infix began working with Innovate UK Business Growth in 2020, following a successful £116,000 Innovate UK grant that enabled an initial pilot with NHS Lothian in Scotland. The pilot, supported by an additional £70,000 from Scottish Enterprise – the national economic development agency for Scotland – demonstrated a 26.8% increase in theatre utilisation.

Building on this momentum, Innovation and Growth Specialist, Dr Claire Melville, co-developed a tailored action plan with the company, to help it achieve key milestones. She supported it across its commercial strategy, international expansion, investment readiness and end-user communications. In parallel to the action plan being activated, a four-month proof of concept led to the company’s first contract with an NHS Scotland health board, followed by £82,000 in Scottish Enterprise Innovation funding to roll the solution out to two additional NHS health boards.

To support this national scaling, Infix was awarded a place on the Innovate UK Design for Growth initiative. This led to a collaboration with InnoScot Health – the commercial arm of NHS Scotland – to develop a scalable digital training package, enabling Infix to improve usability and market access for its software through enhanced user journey analysis.

Scaling smart solutions for the NHS

In May 2024, Infix was awarded a national NHS Scotland contract to optimise surgical theatre performance – securing 100% of the digital scheduling market across all health boards.

Dr Freer says: “Following the award of the national NHS contract, we’ve increased scheduling efficiency by up to 20%. That will have a huge impact on reducing waiting lists. We wouldn’t have reached this level without the combined support from Innovate UK and Scottish Enterprise.”

The company has since launched Infix Analytics, a performance dashboard that pulls together live data across NHS boards to optimise theatre use. Backed by a Scottish Enterprise Innovation Grant, the new platform is forecast to generate £3 million in revenue and support the creation of a further eight jobs over the next three years. The platform also lays the foundation for Infix’s international expansion – enabling a data-led approach to operating theatre management in overseas markets.

Investment readiness unlocks growth and global ambition

To prepare for growth and new product development, Infix returned to Innovate UK Business Growth for investment readiness support, including through Invest-Ability Intensive Training – an initiative designed to help innovative businesses perfect their investment strategy and investor communications. The pitch refinement, funding guidance and one-to-one mentoring helped strengthen Infix’s investor proposition, leading to a successful £650,000 angel investment raise. The company is now preparing to raise an additional £2 million in 2025.

Dr Freer adds: “Innovate UK Business Growth helped us focus our messaging and build the confidence to approach investors. That support played a key role in getting our first raise over the line and in positioning us for international expansion.”

The company has focused its international growth strategy on the Middle East, which has led to a proof of concept (PoC) with a major United Arab Emirates (UAE) provider, PureHealth. This has been supported by the Scottish Development International (SDI) team through the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) Saudi Accelerator, enabling strong connections into the Saudi healthcare system.

Innovation that improves care and cuts costs

Since first engaging with Innovate UK Business Growth, Infix Support has scaled rapidly – developing second-generation products, expanding its client base and raising significant investment. By reducing inefficiencies in surgical scheduling, the company is helping UK hospitals treat more patients, reduce backlogs and make better use of NHS resources.

Dr Freer concludes: “The support we’ve had from Innovate UK Business Growth has been central to our growth journey. From shaping our commercial strategy to helping us engage investors and explore global markets, they’ve given us the structure and direction to scale effectively. Alongside Scottish Enterprise, that backing has helped turn Infix into a stronger, more investable business.”

The support we’ve had from Innovate UK Business Growth has been central to our growth journey. From shaping our commercial strategy to helping us engage investors and explore global markets, they’ve given us the structure and direction to scale effectively.

– Dr Matthew Freer, CEO of Infix Support