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With the power to unlock huge benefits for the wider economy, UK tech innovators are our hope for the future. As KPMG opens applications for the firm’s annual Tech Innovator in the UK competition, Nicole Lowe, head of KPMG’s Emerging Giants practice talks to Dr Elliot Street, CEO of Inovus Medical about the last 12 months since winning the 2023 competition.
Last year Inovus Medical knew they had something special with their accessible and affordable technologies which offer a solution to the global surgeon shortage. The business, built on the ideas and talents of a medic and an engineer, has a mission to be the world’s partner for surgical training and so they entered KPMG’s search to find the next Tech Innovator in the UK.
Having won the northern heat and then the UK final, the team came second when they went on to represent the UK at the global final at Web Summit in Lisbon pitching their business to room full of investors, innovators and industry leading judges.
What has been happening with Inovus since you won the 2023 Tech Innovator in the UK competition?
Since winning the competition we have been strapped into a rocket ship and continue to be hitting the boosters. We have doubled our UK and US team headcount, opened a US headquarters in Tampa Bay, Florida to provide logistics, warehousing and technical support to the rapidly scaling US market.
We announced a major partnership with the American Association of Gynaecologic Laparoscopists (AAGL) and Hologic that will result in the Inovus technology being installed in circa 300 residency programme sites across the US. We have also moved into new global headquarters in the burgeoning medtech campus in St Helens. With several new product launches coming and more exciting partnership announcements in the works, 2024 does not look like it will be slowing down.
Have you accelerated any of your plans as a result of wining the competition?
We already had pretty ambitious growth plans going into the competition and we have remained on track with them since which has certainly been helped by winning the competition. The support from the KPMG network has been incredibly valuable and a major help as we navigate the process of building a global scaleup.
How did you find the Global Tech Innovator competition?
It was a world class event from start to finish. The KPMG Private Enterprise team ensured that the event delivered value days before even getting on the stage to pitch. The expert sessions were really illuminating and getting to spend time with so many incredible innovators was so inspiring. The competition night itself was a spectacular night: amazing production quality, a world- class host and so well run. I am just sad that we don’t get to have another crack and go back again.
Did you learn anything from the other global entries?
Absolutely, so much and too many things to mention here, but when you spend three days with a group of some of the best innovators on the planet, you always come away with some wisdom.
Did you make any interesting connections from the global event that have been useful to your business?
Yes, some great investor connections and wider connectivity to the KPMG global network has been really useful as we continue to scale globally. We also picked up a few new ‘mentors’ off the back of the expert sessions!
What would you say were the key benefits of entering the competition?
It gave us some great exposure to a network of peers, and the amazing production quality of the events provided us with some amazing content. Combined with the content and exposure from the KPMG team, this really helped us ‘cut through the noise’ and get noticed by the right people.
So, having gone global, what does the next five years look like for your business?
We will continue to focus on our mission of becoming the world’s partner for surgical training and helping solve the growing global crisis of surgeon shortage. In the near term, we continue to focus our efforts on our expansion in North America and seeking commercial and funding partners that share our vision for the future of surgical training. Five years from now, we will still be working towards our mission with focus and dedication!
Applications to take part in Tech Innovator in the UK competition are open from today! Don’t miss this opportunity to pitch your innovations and your growth plans to a panel of regional, national, and global industry influencers.
The overall winner will go on to represent the UK at the global final in Lisbon later in the year, where a panel of global judges will crown the KPMG Private Enterprise Global Tech Innovator.
If you are an early-stage or accelerated growth tech business, why not take the opportunity to showcase your business and meet industry experts, peers and other tech innovators by entering now via https://kpmg.com/uk/en/home/services/private-enterprise/tech-innovator-in-the-uk.html
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