Our Collaborations
Partnership is at the heart of successful health and care innovation. In our CHI-Zone Collaborations section, we proudly showcase a range of news stories reflecting the impact of our work with national networks, commissioners and providers, and pioneering HealthTech businesses. These stories offer practical insights and inspiration for prospective partners. You’ll find updates on projects as they evolve, testimonials from partner businesses, and concrete examples of how collaboration with the CHI-Zone has accelerated innovation journeys. These stories highlight the breadth of support available and the tangible benefits of working together.
From AI-powered sleep support to a neurodivergent travel app: hidden entrepreneurs generate £5.2m social return
A former football coach who developed an AI-powered sleep platform after breaking his back and a travel agent behind a travel review app for the neurodiverse are among a group of Liverpool City Region entrepreneurs who have generated more than £5.2m in social value from a £500,000 investment.
Spotlight: MyHelpa – Using intelligent scheduling to support better home care delivery
Meet MyHelpa – an AI-driven rostering platform designed for domiciliary care providers, recipient of the CHI-Zone small grant for CareTech Developers.
Breaking down barriers to participation: in conversation with Mathew Richards
Working across schools, community hubs and care settings, Inclus-ability North West CIC delivers tailored activity programmes designed to build confidence, improve wellbeing and create stronger social connections. From chair-based exercise sessions for older adults to confidence-building activities for children, the organisation is focused on making movement accessible for people of all abilities and backgrounds.
From personal recovery to population health: in conversation with Sean Bailey
Built on years of experience delivering sleep support through his non-profit organisation, MySleepHealth is a digital platform designed to make evidence-based sleep interventions more accessible and scalable. The app supports people experiencing insomnia, chronic sleep deprivation and shift work-related sleep challenges, alongside families navigating ADHD and autism-related sleep difficulties.
Spotlight: Carpe Care – capturing better insight into epilepsy care
Meet Carpe Care - Carpe Care – a start-up, developing carer-worn video technology to capture neurological events - and one of the recipients of our small grants programme for CareTech Developers.
New Report Maps the Legal and Regulatory Landscape for Digital Health Technologies in the UK
The University of Liverpool's Civic HealthTech Innovation Zone (CHI-Zone) has commissioned a comprehensive Legal and Regulatory Mapping of Medical Devices report from leading law firm Hill Dickinson LLP and specialist life science consultancy Medilink North of England.
University showcases its leading work in adult social care
The University of Liverpool’s use of AI, AR and data could help shape the future of adult social care in the UK. Reflecting this, the University, alongside the National Care Forum, recently welcomed members of the Casey Commission team to present its work on transforming the sector.
Spotlight: CareBrain – using sector-trained AI to support frontline care
Meet CareBrain, a recipient of the CHI-Zone small grant for CareTech Developers, a company developing AI tools designed specifically for the realities of adult social care.
Designing for Adult Social Care: Supporting Shared Lives Plus
Shared Lives Plus is a charity that prides itself in championing one of the most human-centred service models in adult social care. Shared Lives Plus joined our Adult Social Care Testbed last summer to explore whether a digital approach could help, without losing what makes the service special.
Fellowship Reflections: Inspiring Conversations, New Connections and a Shared Vision for Mental Health Innovation
The aim of the CHI-Zone Fellowship was to bring together a diverse cohort of innovators spanning multiple sectors and professions, with the goal of fostering richer, more varied perspectives on the future of mental health innovation. In practice, it surpassed expectations, creating a rare and valuable opportunity for cross‑sector peer learning, offering fresh insights, and ultimately building relationships and collaborations to drive meaningful change.
Developing Conversational Data Analytics in Health and Care
The Conversational Data Analytics (CDA) project aims to develop a chatbot-based teaching platform that makes statistical techniques and coding skills more accessible to people who use data in their work but lack formal training in statistics.
Spotlight: vTime – AI-generated immersive training for healthcare
Meet vTime, a Liverpool-based company, building Project Seacole - an AI-driven immersive training platform for healthcare professionals.
Announcing the recipients of our CareTech Developers for Adult Social Care Small Grants Programme
The CHI-Zone small grants programme for CareTech Developers supports innovators to explore, develop and test digital solutions with adult social care and support providers across the Liverpool City Region. We are delighted to announce this year’s grant recipients, who are now working with our Adult Social Care Testbed partners to develop and test their digital solutions and transform adult social care provision across the region.
Spotlight: Scenegraph Studios – advancing ethical AI avatars for mental health simulation training
Meet Scenegraph Studios, a Birkenhead-based company, developing developing Pxl-Persona, an AI-driven avatar platform designed to transform how healthcare professionals practise complex mental health conversations.
Spotlight: Facial Dynamics – supporting recovery and confidence through remote facial rehabilitation
Meet Life Analytics Ltd, developers Facial Dynamics, and one of our XR for Community Healthcare grant awardees. Facial Dynamics is addressing the clinical and psychological impact of facial palsy through remote monitoring and augmented reality.
Spotlight: Tend VR – expanding access to mental health support with immersive technology
Meet Tend VR, one of the awardees of our Extended Reality for Community Healthcare Grants. Tend is using immersive technology to widen access to mental health support and ease pressure on overstretched services.
New University of Liverpool-US collaboration to accelerate drug discovery using AI
Artificial Intelligence will be used to accelerate new medicine discovery in a University of Liverpool partnership secured following Mayor Steve Rotheram’s US trade mission.
The University of Liverpool will work with Boston-based BPGbio, Inc. to harness large-scale healthcare data to accelerate the development of new treatments.
Announcing the Recipients of Extended Reality for Community Healthcare Grants
We are delighted to announce details of the five SMEs awarded funding through our Extended Reality (XR) Solutions for Community Healthcare Small Grants Programme.
CHI-Zone Fellowship Session 5: Building with Integrity
Week 5 of the CHI-Zone Fellowship focussed on building with integrity, bringing important discussions around regulations, ethics and IP.