Technology

Posted on February 11, 2019 by staff

At-home blood test startup secures new investment

Technology

A biometric tracking service designed to help users track their health with an at-home finger-prick blood tests, has secured new investment.

Forth secure its first inistutional investor in the form of The Development Bank of Wales, with a group of angels from Angels Invest Wales and South West based angel investors, including Craig Gulliford, CEO of Creo Medical.

Gulliford was an early investor in the company during its first raise on Crowdcube in 2017 and has since joined the board.

“I have an affinity for technology-based companies that have an innovative and disruptive proposition backed by great people,” he said.

“Forth ticks this box and the management team crucially also have the energy, passion, determination to succeed at all costs”.

Forth aims to give people greater insight into their body’s internal health, by measuring key biomarkers for good health. A user orders a test online and uses a finger prick kit to send their blood to an accredited lab.

“Following on from the incredible success of Creo Medical, it’s great to have attracted another exciting business to Wales and to co-invest again with some of the angels who backed Creo from the beginning,” said Dr. Richard Thompson, Senior Investment Executive in the Development Bank of Wales technology team.

Originally based in Bristol, Forth’s first investment round was secured in spring 2017 via crowdfunding platform, Crowdcube.

CEO and co-founder, Sarah Bolt, said: “We are delighted to secure Development Bank of Wales as an investor. This investment will be used to develop our technology platform and recruit more customers to our service.”

“I’m also originally from Cardiff so it’s great to secure investment in my home country, away from the traditional London centric investment community”.

The Forth team are also members of SetSquared, technology accelerator based in Bristol and funded by Universities of Bath, Bristol and Exeter.

Following investment from the Development Bank of Wales, the company has now relocated across the Severn Estuary to their new base in Chepstow, Wales.