Investment in the Healthtech sector reached record highs in 2021. London is now the leading hub for Healthtech investment, with startups securing $2.9 billion in funding. It is indeed a great time to be involved in the Healthtech sector.
We are delighted to have caught up with Chris Emerson, CEO of the new and unique wellbeing app Revoola. Chris is an incredibly experienced leader with a passion for engaging people and building teams to deliver transformative change and new business ventures. He has been successful across a wide range of industries, cultures, and countries through an ability to make bold decisions, take meaningful actions and implement them quickly in rapidly changing markets.
In our interview, Chris will share his thoughts on his entrepreneurship journey, why they formed, the team, their growth plans, participation in the Investor Readiness Program, and where this round of investment will take them.
1. What challenges did you find at the beginning of your journey, and how did you overcome them?
- Capital & people. As with any great idea, it only becomes compelling & credible when you have an attractive, consumer-ready product that delivers against your USPs. This requires a lot of effort in terms of technology build and refinement, establishing a robust business model, and developing a clear vision on how you plan to bring your idea to market. All of this cost’s money. For us, this process took nearly two years. We raised two seed rounds of investment and have been supported by a fantastic group of active early investors. This enabled us to build a sophisticated technology platform and body of content that were thoroughly tested and refined based on early user feedback. However, capital alone isn’t enough. Any new business is only as good as its people. So we put together a small talented group of employees, partners & advisors, most of whom (with a lot of arm twisting) worked for equity to get us to the point where we were ready to launch.
2. How did you come up with the name for your company?
- The name is a play on one of our core differentiators; our measure of effort rather than performance. ‘REV’ or ‘Effort’ points are awarded for physical exercise based on individual effort for any activity.
3. What sets you apart as a management team?
- Our team is our biggest asset. Our executive team has decades of board-level experience in direct-to-consumer products, B-B sales, technology development, marketing, and business leadership. Quite simply, we know how to get things done. Also, we know what we don’t know. We have worked hard to attract the very best business partners, advisors & industry experts to help us develop our app and support us in establishing our sales pipeline.
4. What makes Revoola unique?
- Health tech is a crowded market. However, in our view, it lacks innovation.
- • Revoola is unique because we are for absolutely everyone regardless of age or ability;
- • we promote all-round wellbeing (with as much focus on mental health as physical activity);
- • we have a unique measure of effort rather than performance – which enables people of all ages and abilities to participate on a level playing field;
- • we are engaging and participative – people of different backgrounds and abilities create diverse communities around activity in ways not possible with existing wellbeing apps.
5. How do you intend to market your business?
- Our mission is to help businesses transform productivity and engagement through a happier & healthier workforce. Our primary route to market is therefore B2B. We have several sales & marketing channels in place to connect us with potential customers. These will continue to expand during the course of this year.
6. What is your traction like and where this round of investment will take you?
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- We are delighted that we have secured our first (contracted) customers since our launch a few months ago. We also have an exciting sales pipeline, including some of the UK’s most well-known corporate names.
- The investment will enable us to accelerate this growth. So 2022 is going to be an exciting year for Revoola!
7. Why should an investor back you and Revoola?
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- Staff wellbeing is now a bottom-line issue for organisations. The cost to the UK economy alone of poor staff health amounts to £130B a year. Yet despite this, existing wellbeing apps do not support improved staff wellbeing given limited appeal to small numbers of people.
- Revoola is different. Our innovative content and technology provide an inclusive, engaging, supportive, and highly flexible solution for people of all ages and abilities that enable our clients to support every employee, whatever their headspace, however they feel. In addition, our highly experienced executive and advisory team have the experience and credibility to deliver our exciting plans to address the enormous untapped potential in this market.
8. What was your experience doing the Investor Readiness Program with Stakeholderz? Why do you recommend it to other Entrepreneurs?
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- Working with Stakeholderz has been hugely valuable for us. They have helped us focus our plans and pitch to ensure a credible and compelling narrative for potential investors. They have also provided platforms for us to centralise our supporting information/data, enabling us to promptly respond to investor due diligence requests.
- Most importantly, they have been enthusiastic supporters of and cheerleaders for Revoola, connecting us to the right investors. Any start-up needs all of the support that it can get, and they have been a fantastic partner for us during our fundraising journey.
9. And finally, what advice would you give someone just starting a business?
- You need incredible tenacity and persistence. Things rarely happen overnight, and ‘instant successes’ are usually the result of several years of hard graft before products become successful in the market. Founders must be open-minded and listen to feedback; it’s impossible to have all the answers. To that end, get the very best people you can around you as early as you can. A good idea is nothing without the right team to bring it to life.