Circadacare
Newcastle-based Circadacare, which has accessed specialist support and workspace through Oxford Innovation, aims to help people live independently for longer with its new Heleos circadian lighting solution.
Circadacare’s system combines circadian light technology, which is proven to support sleep and alertness, with an advanced AI monitoring platform to enhance wellness and promote independent living among an ageing population. This innovative technology can result in reduced falls, better sleep, improved cognition and engagement.
A game-changing solution
The company has been designing circadian lighting solutions for care homes since 2020, but its new Heleos product has been designed to fit into a standard light socket (like a lightbulb) in individual homes. It delivers non-invasive support and monitoring, whilst also notifying carers of any notable changes in patterns of motion and wellness via an app.
Tallie Bush, Chief Operating Officer at Circadacare, explains: “As individuals age, disturbances in circadian rhythms – the body’s sleep/wake cycle – become more pronounced, especially for those with dementia. Our AI pattern and activity detection forms a personalised record, which can detect deviations from an individual’s usual behaviour to help the caregiver identify indicators of physical and neurological health decline.”
Established by founder James Theobald, Circadacare is based at The Catalyst innovation centre, which is managed by Oxford Innovation Space and located in the heart of Newcastle Helix – a 24-acre innovation district with a focus on science and technology.
The Catalyst is a friendly, supportive environment, where people actively want to help you. It feels like a community here and it’s a real hub of activity for start-ups.”
Tallie Bush,
Chief Operating Officer, Circadacare
Space to innovate and collaborate
As the largest operator of innovation centres in the UK and Ireland, Oxford Innovation Space has supported the Circadacare team on their growth journey since 2022 by providing flexible workspace and in-house business support services at The Catalyst.
As the company’s first employee, Tallie has experienced first-hand the advantages of being based within the innovation centre:
“As well as being a beautiful building, The Catalyst is a friendly, supportive environment, where people actively want to help you. It feels like a community here and it’s a real hub of activity for start-ups.”
Also home to the National Innovation Centre for Ageing (NICA), The Catalyst offers specialist facilities, flexible workspace, event space and in-house support services to create a dynamic environment where businesses can catalyse world-changing ideas.
Tallie continues: “Being based in an innovation centre has given us the flexibility to upgrade our space as we grow. Our team has quickly expanded from one to 10 employees since we moved into The Catalyst and we’ve upgraded our office space twice. As well as being able to work alongside NICA, there are lots of opportunities to network with other businesses through various events and workshops. For example, we recently worked with Urban Foresight who we met at a coffee morning in the building.”
Specialist advice and support
To help further accelerate their growth, Circadacare also benefitted from the expertise of Oxford Innovation Advice – an outstanding provider of business support programmes for SMEs – through an accelerator programme designed to support SMEs to develop new products and services for the healthy ageing market.
“When we heard about the Healthy Ageing Accelerator, we signed up straight away,” confirms Tallie. “The programme introduced us to other businesses and experts that we’re still in contact with today. The advisers were highly knowledgeable and the sessions provided us with some really useful contacts, valuable insights and desk-based research, which we’ve used to inform our strategies going forward.”
A bright future
As people are increasingly living longer, there is a growing demand for new products and services that can support people in later life. With a huge potential customer base, both nationally and internationally, the future looks bright for Circadacare.
Tallie concludes: “Over the next 24 months, we want to establish ourselves in the UK but also expand globally. We aim to establish an international distribution network, expand our product range and further enhance our AI capabilities.
“We want to be part of the solution to the global issue of ageing well and managing independence. Not to mention, we are proud to be part of the growing network of tech businesses here in the North East.”
