FreshCheck secures £150k to roll out colour-change swabs for on-site hygiene checks
This article covers FreshCheck, a healthtech startup, which has received a £150k investment from the British Design Fund to accelerate the rollout of its patented colour-change surface hygiene tests. The development aims to make on-site, low-cost verification of cleanliness quicker and more widely accessible across food production and healthcare settings, supporting routine hygiene checks and data-driven compliance and stewardship programmes.
FreshCheck, a healthtech startup, has received investment to accelerate the rollout of its patented colour-change surface hygiene tests — a development that could make on-site, low-cost verification of cleanliness quicker and more widely accessible across food production and healthcare settings.
Why it matters
Reliable, rapid hygiene verification remains a barrier for many organisations. Traditional microbiology testing can require lab work, specialist equipment and waiting times that limit routine checks. That matters because microbial contamination drives food safety incidents and contributes to antimicrobial resistance, while healthcare associated infections continue to place pressure on clinical services.
A simpler, affordable test that produces instant, visual results could change how teams audit cleaning, respond to contamination and feed hygiene data into compliance and stewardship programmes.
Inside the product
FreshCheck’s core product is a patented colour-change swab system that gives immediate visual confirmation of surface cleanliness without additional hardware or lab analysis. The swab pairs with an integrated app and web platform to record, analyse and verify results in real time.
The system has been validated by Campden BRI, a well-known food innovation testing body, which lends third-party credibility for use in food safety contexts. FreshCheck says the technology is already in use across major UK food producers for on-site checks and is being trialled by leading international brands. The company also holds global patents and plans to expand its range to include both active and passive testing processes.
Who are the investors?
The funding comes from the British Design Fund (BDF). The investment is intended to support FreshCheck’s product expansion and pilot work to take the tests into healthcare, where hygiene monitoring is a persistent challenge.
In the announcement, Damon Bonser, CEO of British Design Fund, said:
FreshCheck exemplifies the kind of purposeful innovation we look for, where practical design meets real-world impact. Their approach to hygiene verification is timely, scalable, and rooted in solving a genuine challenge. We’re pleased to support their journey and see how their technology and services continue to evolve.
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Founder perspective
FreshCheck was founded in 2015 by Alex Bond and Dr. John Simpson. Dr Simpson now serves as co-founder and CEO.
In the announcement, John Simpson, Co-founder & CEO at FreshCheck, said:
Microbial contamination is a global issue, from food safety to antimicrobial resistance. For too long, reliable hygiene testing has been limited to those who can afford the complex or costly tools. Our mission is to make contamination visible with easy-to-use, affordable products that anyone can use to protect consumers and patients with easy to interpret results and cleaning data analytics. With growing demands for antimicrobial stewardship and data-driven auditing, FreshCheck is redefining what hygiene verification looks like. This investment allows us to expand our range of patented active and passive testing processes, accelerate adoption of current tests, and take our technology into healthcare and other high-impact sectors.
The company positions its offering as a practical alternative to lab-based testing, emphasising speed, affordability and data capture for auditing and compliance.
The bigger picture
This funding is a reminder that design-led productisation — turning laboratory methods into simple, field-ready tools — is an active area in UK healthtech. Low-cost, rapid diagnostics and hygiene verification tools align with policy and operational priorities around antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention, both in food production and healthcare.
Smaller, targeted investments from specialist funds can help bridge the gap between validation and wider adoption. For the UK and Europe, the challenge will be scaling trials across clinical settings and demonstrating consistent outcomes that change procurement and auditing practices. FreshCheck’s next steps — broader healthcare trials and product diversification — will be a useful test case for whether visual, app-driven hygiene tests can move from early adopters to standard practice.
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