An interview with Matthew Vamplew, Co-founder and CEO of Bristol mental health care startup Paranimo.
Paranimo is one of ten companies taking part in the Tech South West StartUp Studio, a new accelerator programme for early-stage tech startups in the South West. The programme is delivered in partnership with Activate and Skowt Consulting, with support from Astley Media, RSM, Azure and Granted Consultancy.
How are you finding the TSW StartUp Studio programme so far?
We’re enjoying the program a lot. It’s not often you get to take a step back and make sure the assumptions you are making and what you are doing is still on the right track.
Particularly when it comes to the problems we are trying to solve for our end users. It’s an excuse to take time away from working “in” the business to work “on” the business.
What has been the hardest part of the accelerator programme?
Definitely working out the ‘beachhead market ‘– our solution is very applicable to so many different sectors and industry types that a lot of time was spent discussing this!
Also finding data and references to support the numbers we are using to show market size.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve taken from the programme so far?
There is always competition, but if the problem you are trying to solve still exists – they haven’t solved it yet!
That’s been our mindset from the start but it’s good to hear it from other more experienced people who have launched / been involved with successful businesses.
What do you hope to get out of the programme – personally and for the business?
Personally, it’s great to meet likeminded people and learn from people who have ‘been there and done that’.
For the business, it would be great to see if investment is the route we would like to take, if we are deemed investable and what that would look like in practice.
Find out more about Paranimo at paranimo.co.uk/pages/home
Connect with Matthew: linkedin.com/in/matthew-vamplew
Learn more about the StartUp Studio at techsouthwest.co.uk/startupstudio