Envoke Leeds Raises £1.6m to Scale Lab Simulator Across Asia

Envoke Leeds secures £1.6m from Mercia, Finance Yorkshire, and Foresight Group as the lab training software company targets international expansion with clients including the Mayo Clinic and NHS

Leeds-based lab simulator company Envoke Leeds has raised £1.6 million to fund its expansion into the Asia-Pacific market, bringing total funding to over £4 million. The round was led by existing investors NPIF – Mercia Equity Finance (part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund) and Finance Yorkshire’s Seedcorn Fund, alongside new investor Foresight Group. Envoke’s platform creates virtual replicas of complex laboratory equipment and uses interactive simulations to train staff and troubleshoot problems remotely, reducing the need for engineer call-outs by 15–20%. The company now counts US-based equipment manufacturers Bio-Rad, ThermoFisher Scientific, PacBio, and Haemonetics among its clients, alongside the NHS, Hawaii’s national blood laboratories, and the Mayo Clinic.

Why This Matters For Leeds

A 16-person Leeds company winning contracts with the Mayo Clinic, ThermoFisher Scientific, and Hawaii’s blood laboratories is a scaling story to take note of. For Leeds’ health tech cluster, this is another example of a city-based company building exportable technology for a global healthcare market.

What Envoke Has Built

Founded in 2019 by Stuart Warrington, Envoke’s platform creates a virtual replica of each laboratory machine and uses interactive simulations to show staff how to operate it. The system also enables remote troubleshooting and maintenance, meaning many problems can be resolved without dispatching an engineer. For equipment manufacturers, that means lower servicing costs and higher revenue from consumables because machines stay operational for longer. For healthcare providers, it means fewer breakdowns disrupting critical test results. The platform also captures real-time data on user competence for the first time, enabling laboratories to see how skilled operators drive profitability and where training gaps are costing money.

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“Laboratory equipment is challenging to operate and technical problems are commonplace. Each service call-out typically costs manufacturers $2,500 and a breakdown can seriously disrupt health services by delaying critical test results. Envoke is tackling these problems.”

— Stuart Warrington, CEO, Envoke

From Leeds to the Mayo Clinic

The client list tells the story of Envoke moving quickly from a local startup to a global healthcare platform. Bio-Rad, ThermoFisher Scientific, PacBio, and Haemonetics are major US-based laboratory equipment manufacturers. The Mayo Clinic is one of the most respected medical institutions in the world. Hawaii’s national blood laboratories and the NHS are a portfolio that spans public and private healthcare across multiple continents. The Asia-Pacific expansion, funded by this latest round, is the next step. Dawn Tyler of Mercia Ventures said Envoke has built an impressive client base among US multinationals and launched its most powerful platform to date. Foresight Group’s Line Gauteplass said the business has demonstrated strong traction and significant potential as it expands internationally.