ClotProtect lands £1.2m seed to reduce preventable patient harm from blood clots
This article covers ClotProtect, a Leeds healthtech startup, which has raised £1.2m in a seed funding round to develop products aimed at reducing preventable patient harm from blood clots. The funding is intended to progress product development, support regulatory and clinical work, and prepare for wider deployment across hospitals and other clinical settings.
ClotProtect, a Leeds healthtech startup, has raised £1.2m in a seed funding round to further develop a suite of products aimed at reducing preventable patient harm from blood clots across healthcare settings.
Why it matters
Blood clots remain a leading cause of preventable harm in hospitals and other clinical settings. Money targeted at early-stage healthtech interventions can accelerate device development, clinical validation and regulatory approvals that determine whether a product actually reaches patients. For hospitals and clinicians, a reliable tool to prevent or manage clotting risks could translate into fewer adverse events and lower downstream costs.
Inside the product
ClotProtect develops solutions intended to help prevent and manage blood clots. The company says the new funding will be used to progress product development, support regulatory and clinical work, and expand commercial activity as it prepares for broader deployment. The announcement does not detail specific clinical endpoints or regulatory pathways, but those are typically the next milestones for medtech projects at this stage.
Who are the investors?
The £1.2m round combines public and private support. Part of the funding comes from Innovate UK, and the company also secured £600,000 in angel investment led by Lifted Ventures and its Angel Network. Additional capital was unlocked via the Innovate UK Investor Partnership programme.
Helen Oldham, co-founder of Lifted Ventures, said:
ClotProtect is a great example of what can happen when strong founders are given access to the right capital, networks and long-term support.
This round reflects both the strength of Helen’s vision and the power of the Lifted Angel Network to help founders unlock significant funding.
Jordan Dargue, co-founder of Lifted Ventures, said:
Helen is an exceptional founder tackling a critical healthcare challenge. Supporting her through Elevate Her and continuing to mentor her as she built momentum towards a £1.2 million round is exactly what Lifted Ventures is about.
Securing angel investment alongside public funding is essential. It provides not just capital but the early-stage development support that helps companies de-risk, scale and attract further investment.
It’s especially important that we see more women angel investors stepping in; their participation is unlocking much-needed early-stage capital and driving a more inclusive and dynamic funding landscape.
Since January 2024 Lifted Ventures says it has led and closed 35 investment deals, explicitly positioning itself as a backer of female-led startups across a range of sectors.
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Founder perspective
Helen Philippou, founder of ClotProtect, said:
Taking part in the Elevate Her Accelerator was a turning point for ClotProtect. The support, mentorship and belief from the Lifted team, particularly from Jordan, has been instrumental in helping us secure Innovate UK funding and close this £1.2m round.
This investment gives us the platform to scale faster and bring our technology to more patients who need it.
Philippou frames the round as a way to push the company through early technical and regulatory hurdles and into clinical testing and commercial conversations with healthcare providers.
The bigger picture
The financing illustrates a common pattern for UK healthtech: a mix of public grants and angel capital to move prototypes towards clinical validation. That combination aims to reduce technical and regulatory risk ahead of larger institutional rounds. The involvement of targeted accelerator programmes and angel networks also highlights efforts to increase participation from female founders and investors in the ecosystem.
For the wider UK and European healthtech landscape, the deal underlines the continued importance of grant funding mechanisms such as Innovate UK alongside active angel communities to translate academic and early-stage inventions into deployable clinical tools.
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