Healthtech Joyvie Health raises £774k backed by SyndicateRoom and Lavender Ventures
This article covers Joyvie Health, a healthtech startup, which has closed a pre-seed funding round of £774k to develop a reusable underwear product for people with faecal incontinence. The funds will finance clinical pilots across care homes, hospitals and domiciliary settings and preparations for a direct-to-consumer launch, targeting people with the condition and their unpaid carers.
Joyvie Health, a healthtech startup, has closed a pre-seed funding round of £774k to develop a new reusable underwear product that contains faeces in a disposable pouch and aims to reduce skin contact, preserve dignity and cut caregiver time for people with faecal incontinence. The money, which combines angel investment and an Innovate UK grant, will fund clinical pilots across care homes, hospitals and domiciliary settings, a direct-to-consumer launch planned for 2026, strategic partnerships and the company’s first hires.
Why it matters
Faecal incontinence affects an estimated 656 million people worldwide and is commonly managed with nappies and pads that trap faeces against the skin. That contact can cause skin breakdown, infection risk, and a loss of dignity for patients and a significant burden for unpaid carers, around 70% of whom are women. The problem is underreported and underfunded: women founders receive only about 1–2% of venture capital globally, and women’s health attracts a similarly small share of healthcare VC. Joyvie Health is positioning its product as a clinical and commercial alternative to decades-old non-invasive solutions.
Inside the product
Joyvie Health’s patent-pending reusable underwear separates stool from skin immediately after excretion using a disposable pouch. Early testing cited by the company reports roughly a 90% reduction in stool-to-skin contact and about 70% faster changes compared with existing products. The company plans pilots to gather performance, health-economic and usability data in care homes, hospitals and domiciliary care, with published white papers to follow.
Planned uses for the funds include running those clinical pilots, preparing a direct-to-consumer launch in 2026, building strategic partnerships with charities and healthcare providers, and hiring the first clinical and commercial staff.
In the announcement, Dr Ashish Sinha BMBS BMedSci(Hons) MD FRCS, Colorectal Surgeon, St Mark’s National Bowel Hospital, said:
Faecal incontinence is subjective and chronically underreported - we’ve never truly understood the scale of the problem because people are too ashamed to tell us. The clinical gap is real, and it has consequences. What Joyvié is building helps address the unmet clinical need and provides a useful adjunct in managing this.
Who are the investors?
The pre-seed round comprises backing from HERmesa Angels, SyndicateRoom and Lavender Ventures alongside a cohort of individual angel investors and an Innovate UK grant.
In the announcement, Gail Armstrong, Lavender Ventures, said:
At Lavender Ventures, we are committed to backing founders addressing large, underserved markets with innovative solutions that can meaningfully improve people's lives. We believe the market is ripe for innovation, and Joyvie's approach has the potential to deliver significant benefits not only for individuals, but also for carers, healthcare systems and the environment.
In the announcement, Tom Shepherd, Senior Associate, SyndicateRoom, said:
Three things convinced us: a huge market that VC has typically ignored, an innovative product that demonstrably improves user experience and outcomes, and a strong founder in Zoe who's driven and won't take no for an answer. Those don't often come together.
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Founder perspective
Joyvie Health was founded by Zoe Robson after her father’s experience with late-stage pancreatic cancer in late 2024 exposed gaps in existing care products. Robson says the design of current products contributed to skin breakdown and a loss of dignity for her father and burdened his primary caregiver.
In the announcement, Zoe Robson, Founder & CEO at Joyvie Health, said:
Products designed for care should never cause harm. That’s not a vision statement. It’s the reason this company exists.
In the announcement, Zoe Robson, Founder & CEO at Joyvie Health, said:
All nappies work by trapping faeces against the skin and hoping for the best. Hope belongs to families, not product engineering.
Robson has been accepted onto the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme (Patient Entrepreneur track, Cohort 3), a pathway intended to support market access within institutional healthcare. The company is also building a consumer waitlist and inviting partnerships with charities, patient organisations and providers.
The bigger picture
Joyvie Health’s raise sits at the intersection of two persistent trends in UK healthtech: the slow emergence of targeted women’s health innovation and continued public support mechanisms such as Innovate UK grants and NHS entrepreneurial routes. If clinical pilots demonstrate the claimed reductions in stool-to-skin contact and time-on-care, the product could change cost and labour dynamics in long-term and acute care settings.
The deal reflects growing interest from UK healthtech investors in early-stage interventions that address under-served, high-burden problems. As policymakers and funders push for more applied health innovation, startups focused on practical improvements to dignity and care delivery may attract more attention from both public and private backers.
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