Medtech start-up firm Forth is set to see achieve revenues of £1m this year following a £250,000 equity investment from the Development Bank of Wales.
Founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Sarah Bolt, the Chepstow-based business creates personal biomarker profiles using at home blood testing kits.
With over 10,000 users, Forth’s customers are provided with an understanding of their body’s key internal biomarkers for good health using a simple pinprick blood test.
The scientific blood testing is undertaken at accredited labs then uploaded to their customer’s personalised results dashboard accessible through the web portal or the Forth app.
Working with a team of biochemists and medical doctors, Forth has identified the most relevant and accurate biomarkers for fitness, general well-being and hormone health.
Tests include female fertility, menopause, thyroid checks, testosterone, cholesterol and diabetes.
In the past two years, based on consumer demand, Forth has also developed the only sports-specific bio tracking service in the world designed to optimise endurance, power and strength, known as Forth Edge. The primary market is endurance athletes, such as road cyclists, triathletes and Ironman participants.
The kits are designed for both amateur and professional athletes who want to improve their performance and set new PB’s. The results give athletes insight into whether they are over-trained, under recovered or need to improve their diet.
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The £250,000 equity co-investment from the Development Bank of Wales was as a result of an introduction by business angel Craig Gulliford, chief execuitve of Chepstow-based Creo Medical.
Creo was the fourth company in the Development Bank’s technology venture portfolio to have listed on Altenative Investment Market. The company has successfully raised over £100m since floating in 2016.
Chief executive and founder of Forth, Ms Bolt, said: “With the support of Craig Gulliford and the Development Bank of Wales, we are now well-placed to further develop our offering with plans to export to Europe later this year.
"This is a new market so it took confidence on their part to believe in our product and support us with our mission to help the new digital health consumer to be the best they can be.”
Dr Richard Thompson, senior investment executive with the Development Bank of Wales said:“Forth has made exciting progress since Sarah and her team relocated their headquarters to Wales. They have great products backed by scientific expertise. Sarah’s passion to improve people’s health is impressive and we’re pleased she is part of our growing portfolio of businesses founded by entrepreneurial women. It’s a pleasure to continue working with Craig following the success of Creo and to see him share his expertise with another exciting Welsh tech venture.
Mr Gulliford said “When I first met Sarah I was interested in the proposition she had as well as her tenacity, passion and determination to succeed with the project.
“Sarah’s vision for Forth to be a technological leader in this sector with the first app-based dashboard of key biomarkers really struck me as pioneering the next phase of this large and growing market, with the opportunity to continue to pioneer greater integration of health, nutrition and personalised wellbeing.
“Since my initial investment the company has gone from scratch to recurring revenues and consistent quarterly growth with significant revenue coming through subscription which indicates that consumers value ongoing pre-emptive investment in their health. The whole team have done a fantastic job so far and this is really just the beginning of a roadmap of exciting developments of this technology.” ”