Inovus Medical targets the United States

Inovus Medical (Inovus), a designer and manufacturer of medical and surgical simulators, made the announcement following investment from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF).

The St Helens-based company was founded in 2012 to create tools which are designed using augmented reality and additive manufacturing (3D printing) in order to facilitate and improve teaching and learning within the healthcare industry. Co-founders Elliot Street and Jordan Van Flute are plugging the market gap for increased access to surgical training equipment, and currently supply over 60 percent of all NHS trusts.

Initially, Inovus received an £80,000 loan from NPIF – BFS & MSIF Microfinance in 2017, which was used to scale up the manufacturing function with a new additive manufacturing machine and ready the business for an equity raise. This was followed by a £500,000 investment from NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance last year, which subsequently led the business to drastically scale its team and operations.

As a result of these investments, the company has been able to increase its manufacturing capabilities, create 15 new high-paid jobs, increase its market share in the UK, and secure customers overseas with its products shipping to 70 different countries worldwide.

Whilst traditional surgery training was halted indefinitely during the pandemic, Inovus experienced a surge in demand for at-home virtual surgical training products, and its technology was listed as a resource for surgical training following Covid-19 by the American College of Surgeons.

Dr Elliot Street, CEO at Inovus Medical, said: “Throughout this pandemic, education institutions have had to suspend all practical learning, across all subjects, whilst we maintain social distancing. We believe that products such as our own are the future of learning, and we are delighted that trainee surgeons have been able to continue to learn during this time thanks to simulation technology.”

Street continued: “Part of this success has been down to the support we have received from NPIF, which has supported us at every step of our growth journey. With MSIF and Mercia’s help, we have been able to scale up our manufacturing capabilities and offer an affordable alternative that is accessible to students. We’re looking forward to continuing our work with the NPIF team as we aim for further global expansion.”

Asif Hamid, chair of Liverpool City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), commented: “Inovus Medical is a fantastic example of the type of business that is continuously innovating, adapting and investing in the Liverpool City Region and I am delighted to see their ongoing success and expansion plans.

“NPIF and other such funds can help innovative businesses sustain and grow, ultimately creating the opportunities that will drive the recovery of our city region and I would encourage other ambitious businesses to take advantage of the support and funding that is out there.”

Grant Peggie, director at British Business Bank, added: “This is a great example of where NPIF has provided the much-needed investment to support innovation in the North. It is encouraging to see Inovus Medical’s success is not only creating new, highly skilled jobs and moving into new markets, but also transforming the way in which surgeons learn and develop through technology.”

Following a successful year for the company, Inovus is planning further overseas expansion. The organisation has already established a distribution partner in Canada and is therefore targeting growth in North America. The company is also aiming to penetrate the Asia Pacific market this year.