Uber hails new memory aid app Small Birmingham company wins investment from global tech giant
GLOBAL taxi hailing giant Uber has invested in a Birmingham tech company which has developed an app to help people with everyday memory problems.
Memrica aims to collate data, image and sound files to ensure everything needed for a task, event or appointment is available in one place.
After winning a pitching competition run by the taxi app giant earlier this year, Uber has now invested an undisclosed amount in Memrica.
Memrica founder Mary Matthews travelled to Berlin earlier this summer with three other European winners from UberPITCH to meet the firm’s founder Travis Kalanick.
She said: “Meeting Travis was a fantastic experience and he was incredibly generous with his time, talking through our business challenges and advice based on his experience.
“That was so valuable in its own right – and now to have Uber as an investor and the endorsement of one of the world’s smartest entrepreneurs is incredible.”
Memrica’s service is called ‘Prompt’ and it aims to emulate the way memory works by collating personal context and shared history about people, places and events.
The information is linked to reminders, and users create notes about things they want to remember while the system adds images, contact details, personal context maps and directions.
Families or carers help manage the system using a web dashboard while the technology tracks users’ behaviour and can send alerts if changes are noticed.
The service was developed by working with people living with dementia, their families, clinical staff and the Alzheimer’s Society.
Mr Kalanick said: “I recently had the giving chance to meet with the four finalists in Berlin and I was so impressed by their vision and determination that Uber has decided to make a small direct investment in each of their companies.
“Being an entrepreneur is never easy – even the best ideas can struggle to get the exposure and support they need to succeed. I’m excited to work with these four companies to help them reach their enormous potential.”
David Hardman, chief executive of Innovation Birmingham where Memrica is based, added: “As the most investable city in the UK and the leading tech location outside London, I am thrilled that an internationally successful business such as Uber is recognising Birmingham’s impressive talent pool of entrepreneurs.
“This is a brilliant result for Memrica, following an already impressive year for the company and we look forward to supporting the team as they continue to expand into the global marketplace.”