icare Foundation, an NSW insurer and care provider’s charitable arm, has injected an additional $0.5 million in support of loop+’s $3 million capital investment.

The global venture, in partnership with Silicon Valley-based Yamaha Motor Ventures, Giant Leap Fund, Eleanor Venture, and local investors, aims to develop a health tracker that reduces health issues facing wheelchair users.

“icare’s Lifetime Care Scheme and Workers Care Program currently support 433 people with a spinal cord injury,” said Barney Smith, icare Foundation general manager. “We know that over 85% of wheelchair users will develop a pressure injury in their lifetime and any technology that can detect and prevent injuries earlier is a positive development. We saw how the tracker had the potential to improve the quality of life for people living with spinal cord injuries which is why in 2017, we invested $0.5 million towards developing the tracker into a successful minimum viable product.”

The investment will meet demand for the first 1,000 wheelchairs in Australia and ramp-up pilots in hospitals in the US.

“loop+ is a tool that shows what behaviours are putting stress on their body and empowers wheelchair users to make healthy choices that keep them out of hospital,” said Kath Hamilton, loop+ CEO. “If sitting is considered the new smoking, then it’s clear how a lack of mobility causes significant recurring health issues.”

Hamilton noted the cost of care each year in Australia alone is $7 billion – exceeding diabetes and stroke, with wheelchair users seeing a clinician six times more than the average person each year.