AN EDINBURGH tech start-up that matches people in need of care with care givers has secured £8.5 million of scale-up finance from Legal & General and technology-focused venture capital firm Accelerated Digital Ventures (ADV).

Care Sourcer, which launched in June 2016, has also added former Skyscanner chief operating officer Mark Logan to its board in a non-executive role.

The firm, which last year won a £750,000 contract from NHS Gloucestershire Foundation Trust and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said it plans to use the cash to grow its team from 20 to 100 employees within the next two years.

Chief executive Andrew McGinley said expanding the team would allow the business to bring its “care-matching technology to the whole of the UK”.

“In particular, we need skilled engineers and product specialists who can help make our platform as simple to use as possible,” he said.

Mr McGinley said the point of Care Sourcer’s technology is to ensure that “nobody in the UK has to wait for care when they need it”.

“Right now, too many older people are waiting weeks or even months for care - this causes incredible stress for people and their families, and it’s also a huge expense to our health system, costing NHS Scotland £132m every year,” he said.

“People deserve better than this broken status quo - the right care is quite often out there, but people struggle to access it quickly and effectively and we know that our technology can help.”

The investment comes after the firm initially secured £500,000 of seed capital from ADV and BGF Ventures.

Mr Logan said he was “very excited” about helping Care Sourcer to “successfully scale the business”. He added that the firm “has the potential to make a hugely positive impact on people’s lives”.Health sector start-up secures £8.5m investment