A North Tyneside company which has developed a new health and safety software platform has secured a £500,000 investment from the North East Venture Fund (NEVF), supported by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Mercia Fund Managers.

Notify Technology’s platform allows organisations of any size to manage worker health and safety. The software enables individuals to record accidents and near misses on a mobile device, and for their managers to track outcomes, actions and trends using real-time dashboard reporting. The funding will allow the company to step up its sales and marketing activities to attract new customers, and is expected to create significant jobs in the next five years.

Notify, based at Cobalt Business Exchange, was founded in May 2017 by Duncan Davies, who was previously Director of IT services firm TSG, and Andy Dumbell, formerly CEO of award-winning technology company, ControlF1. They recognised that technology would make it easier to identify and predict risks and reduce the toll of workplace accidents.

Notify is already used by clients including Travis Perkins plc, Thyssenkrupp, Bournville Village Trust , Alexandra Palace and Pinewood Studios. It also provides a free near miss reporting app ‘NotifyIt’ which aims to help businesses worldwide to improve their health and safety culture, and which has already been downloaded in 58 countries around the globe.

Duncan Davies, the CEO of Notify Technology, said: “Notify aims to create a safety revolution. In most cases, incidents happen well beyond the reach of a desk-bound computer, and reporting risks is still a manual process. Notify makes risk reporting and identification simple and efficient. The data can then be used to identify where risks are highest so people and organisations can be better forewarned. This investment is crucial in allowing us to get our message out, within the UK and globally, and to push forward with our technology roadmap to help make workers safer and healthier wherever they are in the world.”

Jan Oosthuizen, Investment Manager with Mercia, said: “Duncan and Andy have brought a fresh approach to the field of health and safety. Notify allows organisations to streamline their processes and create a cultural change in their approach to health and safety; making it easier to comply with new regulations which take a risk-based approach. Ultimately, it will help to reduce the enormous human and financial cost of accidents at work and to save lives.”

The NEVF can invest up to £1.0million for firms in Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear, particularly those which are engaged in innovation or developing disruptive business models. Funding is available to all companies with high growth potential and also pre-start enterprises.

Muckle LLP advised Mercia Fund Managers on the investment, while Notify were advised by Ward Hadaway.

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