Joyvié Health Secures €897,000 in Pre-Seed Funding to Revolutionize Incontinence Care
Based in the United Kingdom, Joyvié Health has successfully closed its pre-seed funding round, raising a total of €897,000 ($1.04 million) to advance its innovative incontinence underwear. This product is designed from fundamental principles to significantly reduce stool-to-skin contact, maintain skin integrity, and alleviate the burden on caregivers.
Investment and Vision
The funding comprises an Innovate UK grant along with investments from HERmesa Angels, SyndicateRoom, Lavender Ventures, and several individual angel investors. “Products designed for care should never cause harm. This is not a vision statement. This is why this company exists,” asserts Zoe Robson, Founder and CEO of Joyvié Health.
Personal Motivation Behind the Innovation
Robson was driven by personal experiences, particularly witnessing the struggles faced by her parents. “My parents didn’t deserve this,” she expresses. “They were both at their most vulnerable – and the product intended to help them only made it worse. The skin damage, the shame, the loss of dignity, the weight on my mother. This wasn’t due to a lack of care. It’s a failure of design.”
Addressing a Global Challenge
Joyvié Health aims to end the silent humiliation associated with fecal incontinence (FI), which affects an estimated 656 million people worldwide. Traditional non-invasive solutions like diapers and pads have remained unchanged for decades. Joyvié’s innovative solution contains the stool in a disposable sachet immediately after excretion, significantly reducing skin contact, preserving dignity, and decreasing the time and burden of care. Initial tests show about 90% reduction in stool-to-skin contact and approximately 70% faster changes.
Highlighting Gender Disparities in Healthcare
Fecal incontinence often results from conditions such as cancer, dementia, MS, Parkinson’s disease, spinal injuries, or aging. It disproportionately affects women, both as sufferers and as caregivers, with around 70% of unpaid caregivers being women. Despite serving half the population, the women’s health sector attracts only 2% of healthcare venture capital funding, reflecting statistics that show women-founded startups receive only 1-2% of venture capital funding globally.
Investor Confidence and Future Plans
“Three things convinced us: a huge market that venture capital has generally ignored, an innovative product that demonstrably improves user experience and outcomes, and a strong founder in Zoe, who is driven and won’t take no for an answer. These elements don’t come together often,” states Tom Berger, senior associate at SyndicateRoom.
Pilot programs are set to commence soon to gather data on performance, health economics, and usability in healthcare settings, hospitals, and home environments. Published white papers will follow these trials. “Fecal incontinence is subjective and chronically underestimated – we’ve never really understood the scale of the problem because people are too ashamed to tell us. The clinical gap is real and it has consequences. What Joyvié is building helps address unmet clinical needs and is a useful adjunct in managing this problem,” comments Dr. Ashish Sinha, Colorectal Surgeon at St Mark’s National Bowel Hospital.
The recent announcement is expected to fund a direct-to-consumer product launch later this year, clinical pilots in various settings, strategic partnerships, and the company’s first hires.
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