At Best Startup UK we track over 130,000 UK startups and over 500,000 people who hold key positions in these companies. We use this directory of startups to highlight top employees, founders and board members we think deserve more appreciation than they are currently getting.
This list showcases the top Birmingham based Founder operating in the Health Care space. If you think a Founder is missing from this list, feel free to contact our editor on editor@beststartup.co.uk.
The individuals on this list have been included because of exceptional performance in one of the following categories:
- Innovation – Operating as a key part in an extremely innovative business or startup.
- Growth – Operating as a key figure in the growth and upscale of a market leading business or startup.
- Management – Showing exceptional management skills.
- Societal impact – Putting their business on the map for their positive societal or environmental impact.
Our Data – We source our data from OSINT (open source intelligence) and public directories such as Companies House UK, Crunchbase, SemRush and many more. The data from these sources should be treated with a degree of caution and verified yourself.
James Wolffsohn
Founder of Aston EyeTech Ltd
James Wolffsohn is one of the leading UK academics in the ophthalmic research field with over two hundred research papers, 16 book Chapters and two books (including books on ophthalmic imaging) principally in the areas of contact lenses, intraocular lenses, accommodation and low vision. Having worked at the University for 15 years James is now the Deputy Executive Dean of Life and Health Sciences and has a wide range of responsibilities at the University both from a profession management and principal investigator perspective. James has over 200 abstracts published at conferences in Europe, USA, Asia and Australia. Over £4 million in research grants from grant awarding bodies and industry. James has had 17 PhD’s awarded to students and currently has 7 in progress and 15 post doctorial research fellows with 4 currently in progress. James started to move into ‘engineering’ based research in Life and Health Sciences in 2008 and has had significant success in the field, developing innovative products and securing IP with a range of research tools.
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About Aston EyeTech Ltd, Aston University, Aston University, University of Houston, Visioncare Research: Aston EyeTech is the commercialisation spin-out from Aston University, developing a range of products to support practising optometrists.
Mark Dunne
Founder of Aston EyeTech Ltd
Mark graduated from the University College of North Wales, Bangor in 1983 with a degree in Zoology. His postgraduate studies were carried out in the Department of Vision Sciences at Aston University. Here, he examined the relationship between ocular biometry, involving development of an ultrasonic ophthalmophakometric technique, and peripheral refraction under the supervision of Derek Barnes. His thesis entitled ‘An Optical Study of Human Ocular Dimensions’ led to the award of a PhD in 1987. During the last year of his postgraduate studies, he became a research assistant on a project, carried out at Aston and funded by the TRRL, looking into road direction sign optimisation. Mark then studied for a degree in Ophthalmic Optics (Optometry) for which he graduated with first class honours in 1989 and became a registered member of the College of Optometrists in 1990. He was appointed as a lecturer at Aston in 1990 and promoted to senior lecturer in 2007. Since then, he has continued his research interests in the fields of ocular biometry and the visual aspects of driving. He has been the optometry admissions tutor since 1996.
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About Aston EyeTech Ltd, Aston University: Aston EyeTech is the commercialisation spin-out from Aston University, developing a range of products to support practising optometrists.
Thorsten Hagemann
Co-Founder of AliveBiome Ltd
Thorsten Hagemann is an accomplished medical professional and entrepreneur with over 17 years of experience within the healthcare industry. An innovative, investigative forward thinker, Hagemann is passionate about identifying and creating new opportunities that aim to improve general health and prevent illnesses. Hagemann is the Founder of MedAdvise Ltd., a consultancy company focused on the education of the general public and prevention of illness through functional medicine. With an understanding that very few of doctors contribute to preventative medicine, Hagemann was motivated to learn more about the prevention of illness and use this information to educate others so they can live more prosperous lives. Through a deep understanding of the microbiome, Thorsten Hagemann has become a leading research expert and advocate for the health of this community of bacteria living inside our bodies. Not only does he find the subject fascinating, Thorsten understands the importance of treating it just like any other major medical area of study as it has an enormous impact on the health of our bodies. Thorsten is also an advocate for education when it comes to the microbiome, having a passion for showing people how keeping your microbiome healthy can increase overall health and wellness. Through his research, Thorsten Hagemann has found that having an unbalanced microbiome can lead to insomnia, anxiety, depression, loss of focus, obesity, diabetes, and even cancer. With preventive care and a balanced microbiome, the human body can experience better digestion, a drop in mood swings, and a healthier immune system. Hagemann hopes to teach as many people as possible about the benefits of a balanced microbiome through his work and research. Thorsten Hagemann was also recently given the opportunity to co-found another company surrounding microbiome research, called AliveBiome. This company’s focus is to give people direct access to nutrients and supplements that can improve the health of their microbiome. By taking care of the microbiome and supplementing it with the proper diet and exercise, AliveBiome and Thorsten Hagemann believe that one’s health can dramatically improve and even prevent further disease and illness. Thorsten Hagemann is also an avid cyclist. Seeing the happiness that the sport brought to other members of his family, Thorsten began biking himself. He has trained for several major cycling events, including the Paris-Roubaix in Northern France; one of the world’s oldest cycling races. The combination of a full body work-out, the joy of riding, and the chance to see the world has kept Thorsten attached to the sport.
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About AliveBiome Ltd, MedAdvise Ltd.: Food as Medicine
William R. Dexheimer
Founder of ChipRewards
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About ChipRewards: ChipRewards provides web-based healthcare incentive platform.
Trey Hamer
Co-Founder, President & CTO of ChipRewards
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About ChipRewards: ChipRewards provides web-based healthcare incentive platform.
Tom Hartle
Founder and CEO of CoherentRx
Tom Hartle is a publishing entrepreneur, CEO and Founder of CoherentRx, a private software company that develops patient education solutions for healthcare providers. Tom Hartle founded Hour Media, which publishes Hour Detroit – a Detroit lifestyle magazine and website, with business partners John Balardo and Stefan Wanczyk. Crain’s Detroit Business named Hartle as one of the magazine’s 40 under 40. he sold out of the company and launched Hartle Media with then partner Heather Hartle. Hartle Media launched 7×7, a bimonthly San Francisco lifestyle magazine and website. Hartle Media bought California Home + Design, a California home and garden magazine and website, with partner, the McEvoy Group. Tom Hartle Media partnered with the McEvoy Group to buy Spin Media, publisher of Spin, a music magazine and website. Hartle served as president, he co-founded Bandwdth Publishing, an app publishing house devoted to the arts and sciences. Bandwdth Publishing creates educational products for app-enabled devices. Titles include: Bygone Days, an American history app for the iPad, the Bandwdth Artist Dashboard for the Samsung Smart TV, KoЯn and Uproar Tour apps for the iPhone, a KoЯn SMS program, and a Patti Smith: Dream of Life app for the iPad, a virtual art gallery complement to the documentary of the same name.
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About CoherentRx: CoherentRx is a private software development company
Bob Shufflebarger
Co-Founder and CEO of TriAltus Bioscience
Bob Shufflebarger is a Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer at TriAltus Bioscience.
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About TriAltus Bioscience: TriAltus Bioscience develops a protein purification platform for life scientists.
Erik Schwiebert
Founder, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of DiscoveryBioMed
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About DiscoveryBioMed: DiscoveryBioMed, Inc. (DBM) is a life sciences and biotechnology company,
Lachlan Faulkner
Co-Founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Stiltz Home Lifts
Mike Lord is the chairman and CEO of Stiltz Lifts.
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About Stiltz Home Lifts: Stiltz Home Lifts manufacture the Stiltz Home Lift which has been designed to provide homeowners with a simple way of moving between floors.
Greg Lawrence
Founder | President of Valor Capital Partners
Mr. Lawrence has more than 15 years of experience in the financial services sector. Greg was co-founder of a successful insurance marketing and sales company in 2004. Mr. Lawrence is the Founder and President of Valor Wealth Management, LLC and has extensive experience in the alternative and direct investment sectors. He steadfastly believes in the utilization of portfolio diversification and tactical asset management for the mitigation of risk and optimization of returns. Mr. Lawrence earned a Bachelor of Science Degree from the Culverhouse College of Commerce at the University of Alabama and holds a Series 66 Securities License (temporarily self-suspended while Valor Wealth Management is converting to a registered investment advisory firm). He is a former Marine and resides in Birmingham, Alabama.
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About Valor Capital Partners: The Company’s primary purpose is providing operating capital, directly or indirectly, to one or more companies engaged.
Mukul Mehra
Founder & Chief Medical Officer of IllumiCare
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About Gastro Health, IllumiCare: IllumiCare Smart Ribbons are non-intrusive ribbons of information that hover over a hospital’s electronic medical.
Lloyd Cooper
Founder and Chief Design Officer & Creator of Movi Medical
For the past 15 years, Lloyd has led major research and development projects for clients ranging from Medtronic to Yamaha. Specifically relating to ergonomics, comfort and safety, he has designed seating for automotive applications, office seating for work environments and ergonomically advanced equipment in operating rooms. He understands how thought leading companies constantly struggle with innovating within the constraints of market competition, tight timeframes and restricted development budgets. In addition to client projects, Lloyd has spun off companies based on the IP he has helped develop. KontrolFreek, a leading developer of innovative gaming accessories, sold at GameStop and by Microsoft, is another example of carefully designed products that solve unique needs.
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About Movi Medical, Push Product Design: Movi is a healthcare innovation company that specializes in innovation management, product design, and healthcare.
Alan Barratt
Founder & CEO of Grenade
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About Grenade: Grenade is the UK performance nutrition pioneer in the fast-growing high protein bar segment.
Matthew Hicks
Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer of Linear Diagnostics
Matthew Hicks is a Founder and executive director of Linear Diagnostics Limited. He has 20 years experience in biochemistry and biophysics in academic and commercial sectors and has published over 40 research papers. Matt, who holds several patents, has a doctorate in Biophysics. He is a world-leader in linear dichroism spectroscopy which is the underlying technology of LDL.
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About Linear Diagnostics, University of Birmingham: Linear Diagnostics Limited is a diagnostics company based on a novel technology
Steven Hamner
Co-Founder, EVP, and CFO of Medical Properties Trust
Steven Hamner is the Co-Founder, EVP, and CFO at Medical Properties Trust.
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About Medical Properties Trust, MPT Operating Partnership: Medical Properties Trust, Inc. bridges the gap between the growing demand for high-quality healthcare.
