Startup Case Study: Beautiful Voice

In an industry plagued with endless waiting lists and overworked therapists, Beautiful Voice provides a solution that can automate therapy processes, analyse a clients’ speech, and in turn offer personalised practice materials and feedback. This is all done through the Beautiful Voice app - a tool that is transforming the way speech therapy is conducted. Not only does the app offer personalised learning and speech practice exercises for individuals, it provides speech therapists with the perfect platform to ease their workload and monitor the progress of their patients. The app simplifies both the therapist's and the patient's work while aiding a faster recovery.  

Andre Hallack, the co-founder of Beautiful Voice holds a PhD in Healthcare Innovation from the University of Oxford, and already has an in-depth experience of entrepreneurship through his first startup, GaitQ. During his postdoctoral research, Andre interviewed hundreds of stroke survivors and Parkinson’s patients, which ultimately highlighted the imminent need for a technology that could make their communication recovery easier. As speech and language therapists are overworked and lack the tools needed to support their processes, Andre found that technological innovation could take much of the burden off their shoulders. He therefore set out to develop an MVP (minimum viable product) to conduct the first proof of concept studies and take his idea further.

After initial tests, he presented a prototype to a group of speech and language therapists and received an overwhelmingly positive reaction. This prompted Andre and his two co-founders to focus on delivering the actual product to market.

“In just a few weeks following my presentation at a Clinical Excellence event, I was contacted by a dozen NHS trusts asking whether they could try the technology.”

The Beautiful Voice team found it particularly important to get continuous feedback from therapists and patients. They therefore conducted several tests throughout the development process and eventually built a product that is now registered as a Class 1 Medical Device and Digital Technology Assessment Criteria (DTAC) compliant for NHS; a device that is used by several NHS trusts, private speech and language therapy clinics as well as individual patients.

As the only speech and language therapy platform to use state-of-the-art technology to analyse voice and speech, Beautiful Voice provides a unique solution. Unlike their competitors, Beautiful Voice can use up to 30 metrics to analyse speech, while personalising all recommendations and practice materials to the specific user. This way, patients can receive real-time feedback during the practice while reading things that they enjoy, providing more motivation and ultimately speeding up the recovery time.

As Beautiful Voice is solving a pressing problem in the public healthcare system, they have received several Innovate UK grants and NIHR (a research funder of the NHS) awards. The team has also forged important partnerships with NHS trusts and hospitals, allowing them to conduct important studies with their technology. They are currently working on a project with Saint George Hospital to extend their support for patients with swallowing issues and are constantly working with speech and language therapists to develop their technology further.

Andre thinks that the biggest challenge he has faced so far as the co-founder of Beautiful Voice is the entrepreneurial lifestyle.  

“As a founder, you need to be part technological lead, part salesperson, part accountant, part HR, and you always need to know what to prioritise”

However, he thinks that a supportive founding team with a strong sense of the company vision can help overcome this challenge. One lesson Andre has learned is the importance of relying on others, even when you feel like you can do everything by yourself! Andre also emphasises that, as a founder, it is easy to feel like you are the first person going through this journey, but in reality, there are so many amazing entrepreneurs out there who have walked the same path and are happy to give meaningful advice.

Andre and his co-founders have benefited a lot from the entrepreneurial resources at the University, particularly Oxford University Innovation and Oxford University Careers Service who have provided support and advice in navigating contracts, fundraising, and with legal questions.

For founders who are just starting, he recommends looking into the resources of Innovate UK and participating in accelerator programmes. He also suggests seeking mentorship and obtaining feedback at every step of the entrepreneurial journey.

This case study was conducted and written by guest author

Greta Sikora, Economics and Management student at the University of Oxford,

and student intern at EnSpire Oxford.