Studies suggest around 80% of trials are delayed due to recruitment or data collection issues – a statistic that highlights just how unprepared current consumer technology is for clinical trials, and how needed innovation is for the sector.

This year marks five years since we founded Inventus. Since then, our technology solutions have been used in some of the world’s most significant clinical trials, and over 500,000 of our technology solutions have been deployed across more than 70 countries while supporting 586 languages. We began in 2020 with a small team and a clear brief: solve the technology problem in the life sciences sector. With our combined decades of experience in digital technology, we knew that we could make a meaningful difference to the life sciences sector.

The industry’s opportunity is to replace consumer mobile device workarounds with purpose-built solutions that are designed specifically for clinical trials, secure and connected out of the box. Patients need devices that feel intuitive and are localised in their language. Sites need technology that works first time and stays working. Sponsors need certainty that the right device reaches the right participant at the right moment, wherever they are. That is the gap we set out to close. We combined expertise to engineer the devices and the global logistics around them so trials can run faster, more reliably and more inclusively.

We started small, listened hard and built deliberately. From our UK base we expanded operations (to Austria, the United States and China) as demand grew. Our culture kept talent at the centre. It keeps us focused on our mission to create outcomes that matter to patients, sites and sponsors. Today we are supporting solutions used by leading pharmaceutical companies and partners globally. The numbers matter only because of what they represent. It means participation is open to more people, with better adherence and data quality. A presence in four countries means we can move quickly, locally and with confidence.

Demand means that the industry must continue to innovate. It is a big reason why now is an exciting moment for founders building in clinical research and life sciences. Sponsors are prioritising inclusive, technology enabled models. Sites are looking for tools that save time and reduce burden. If you can prove reliability and earn trust, adoption follows.

Five years in, my convictions are simple: build for the realities on the ground, not for the slide deck. Get unreasonably close to the problem and stay there. Hire for integrity and curiosity, then give talented people the space to solve hard operational challenges. Localise early and measure what matters. In the end, progress in regulated sectors rarely looks like a single breakthrough. It looks like thousands of small decisions made well, consistently. Do that, and what starts modestly can scale globally with impact.

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