South London Startup Beats the Giants to Win 'AI Innovation of the Year' for Game-Changing Care Tech

3​0 May 2025

Against all odds, a small South London team has just walked off with one of the UK’s biggest healthcare innovation titlesand they did it on their own terms.

The ValueCare Group, a modest but mighty health tech startup based in Wimbledon, has officially been named AI Health Innovation of the Year 2025 by Health Tech World. The award recognises their revolutionary suite of AI-powered toolsincluding MICA, the UK’s first conversational AI care watch, and MILIE, a modular virtual ward hub that’s helping councils and NHS teams cut emergency callouts and hospital readmissions.

Unlike their multinational competitors, ValueCare didn’t arrive with a multimillion-pound marketing machine. No Silicon Valley dollars. No flashy HQ. Just lived experience, relentless innovationand a mission.

“We built this because we had to,” says founder Stephen Nyasamo, a former social worker who started ValueCare in response to the avoidable death of his father during COVID.

“We couldn’t wait for the system to fix itself, so we built tools that empower families, not just professionals. We built something that actually listens.”

The tech is already being piloted showing dramatic results:

• 47% reduction in emergency callouts
• 31% drop in falls
• 90% user satisfaction

But beyond the numbers, what’s different is the philosophy. MICA isn’t just another chatbot. It speaks to people in their own voice, understands context and emotion, and acts like a virtual support worker on your wristguiding, reminding, and responding 24/7. MILIE, meanwhile, transforms ordinary homes into intelligent, preventative care environments without locking councils into overpriced cloud infrastructure or proprietary tech.

“We’re a maverick operation,” says Nyasamo.

“Everyone told us to think small. We didn’t. We thought localand made it national. This isn’t charity. This is system-shifting innovation.”

As larger firms continue to dominate the virtual ward and telecare market, ValueCare’s win is being seen as a wake-up call: that local innovation, built by and for the people it serves, can not only compete it can lead.

With backing from Oxford University Hospitals and support from Innovate UK, ValueCare is now preparing for national scale and inviting commissioners, investors, and innovators to join what many are calling a new era for social care.

Get in touch

enquiries@thevaluecaregroup.co.uk