Impli Secured £1.4 million from the NIHR

Impli, a deep-tech company spun out of Imperial College London with a presence at Biopôle Lausanne, has just secured £1.4 million from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) in the UK, to bring its BEAM biosensor for IVF protocols through first-in-human clinical trials.

For the one in six people worldwide affected by infertility, IVF remains a gruelling process — up to ten clinic visits per cycle, repeated blood draws, and decisions made on hormone data that’s already a day or two old. Impli thinks a small patch worn on the upper arm could change all of that.

Impli’s BEAM biosensor is a microneedle patch that continuously measures the three key reproductive hormones — estradiol, LH, and progesterone — through the skin, in interstitial fluid, transmitting data wirelessly to a smartphone where AI algorithms convert raw signals into real-time hormone trends. BEAM is the wearable first step in Impli’s broader platform roadmap — the same biosensing foundation underpins the company’s longer-term vision for fully implantable, long-duration monitoring, beginning where clinical need is most acute and the regulatory path most accessible. By replacing up to 10 clinic visits with as few as 2, BEAM enables personalised, real-time protocol adjustment with the potential to meaningfully improve success rates and reduce preventable complications. 

“We are not just building a device, we are building the evidence base to show that continuous hormone monitoring is possible, clinically meaningful, and ready for the real world. With an exceptional consortium behind us, we now have the funding, the expertise, and the clinical pathway to do that properly. The NIHR i4i award is a pivotal moment for Impli and for continuous hormone monitoring as a field.” Anna Luisa Schaffgotsch, Founder and CEO, Impli

” Continuous hormone monitoring has the potential to change the landscape of fertility treatment, both in terms of clinical care and patient experience. Rather than snapshots taken at fixed points in time, with Impli we will have access to a live feed of each patient’s hormonal response, allowing us to personalise care in a way that has not been possible before.” Mr Sotirios Saravelos, Consultant Gynaecologist and Reproductive Medicine Subspecialist, Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust / Wolfson Fertility Centre 

The grant will be used in a 30-month programme, run in partnership with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, King’s College London, and patient network Fertility Europe. The programme will take the device from prototype to a 25-person clinical study, with the NHS adoption pathway already in scope.

Impli was also selected in the TOP 30 promising life sciences startups 2026 and won the H4 Award at BIND – BioInnovation Day 2026.

➡️ Source: Press Release | 📸 ©Impli. Anna Luisa Schaffgotsch, Founder and CEO of Impli, presenting at the Trampoline Summit 2025 in Zürich.