Women in Innovation Success Stories: Claire Trant, Untap Health

As the impact of COVID-19 and the threat of new pandemics linger in the back of our minds, Dr Claire Trant is bringing virus detection and monitoring to the forefront.

Her multifaceted team of scientists, engineers and advisors have been collaborating since 2021. Together, they built Untap Health, a device that can detect viruses before symptoms show, using community health monitoring through wastewater instead of expensive individual testing.

For Claire, joining the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards was about more than building her business.

“The programme was a fantastic way to get to know women across the UK from a range of innovative companies, to request support, to ask information and to share experiences,” she explained.

Project progress

When Claire joined the programme, the team had an early technical proof of concept and some interest from potential customers. But after benefitting from peer support, funding and bespoke advice, Untap Health grew from strength to strength.

“Untap Health has hit key milestones since taking part in the programme. We have expanded our capacity to work with customers and have now been paid for a pilot! We have grown the team to ten and hired a senior management team.

“Now we have a company structure in place, we have revenue to work with and can begin testing for additional pathogens like Norovirus, flu and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV),” she said.

The Women in Innovation Awards open up many learning opportunities for participants, encouraging Claire to prioritise effective communication early in any process. She now regards this as being integral to leadership and success.

Financial support has also impacted the business.

“The additional funds from Innovate UK allowed us to expand our product offering and be more than just a ‘COVID company’, testing for a broad range of viral biomarkers. The success of the increase in our service offering also showed our ability as a company to test a suite of pathogens, and we have also won a biomedical grant,” Claire said.

Overcoming unique challenges

Whilst Untap Health has made significant steps towards delivering its product to customers, the process has not been without its challenges.

“My senior leadership team are all older than me, so I’ve definitely experienced imposter syndrome,” Claire explained.

Building a company can be a lonely experience, but connecting with a variety of like-minded women in business has boosted Claire’s confidence.

“I have grown the team and the company feels more like a ‘real business’. I give people autonomy to do their job whilst keeping them accountable to achieve their own milestones.

“In particular, the support of our Innovate UK Business Growth advisor, Dawn, was invaluable throughout the process. She supported us throughout the programme, provided feedback, held us accountable, and leveraged her network.”

Claire encourages future Women in Innovation awardees to get stuck in and make the most of having access to a network of inspiring women across the UK.

Read more success stories from the Innovate UK Women in Innovation Awards.