A new urine collection device for women has been acclaimed as Best Industrial Product and Best of Show at the Design Week Awards.
The Peezy device is an inexpensive plastic funnel for mid-stream urine collection that enables faster diagnosis, greater patient comfort and a cost saving of £2 per test for the NHS.
Start-up company Funnelly Enough, set up by GP Dr Vincent Forte (the device's inventor) and entrepreneur Giovanna Forte, launched Peezy after securing £750,000 investment from the E-Synergy Growth Fund with the aid of an investment readiness programme called Gateway To Investment (g2i).
Peezy is now selling into the NHS and private healthcare, including Spire Healthcare Group. It is selling through distributors in Europe, South-East Asia and the Middle East.
The plastic device eliminates spills and splashing, thus reducing the number of contaminated samples and re-tests - which assists in preventing infections.
Gateway to Investment is an investment readiness programme that helps small businesses with high growth potential to raise the money they need to fund their development.
"To those who seek investment I would recommend schemes like G2i," said Giovanna Forte. "Don't be afraid of giving away chunks of your business, but try and make sure that those chunks go to people who can add value. There's no point in owning 100% of a company that can't achieve anything."
Peezy