Innovate UK has announced its largest ever Women in Innovation cohort, recognising 100 exceptional women entrepreneurs from across the UK as the flagship programme marks its 10th anniversary. The milestone year attracted a record 1,590 applications from women founders.
Emma-Louise Fusari, founder of In-House Health Limited, based in Greater Manchester, is one of 61 Innovate UK Women in Innovation award winners who will receive a £75,000 grant, alongside a business boosting support package that includes 12 months of business support and a suite of training, networking and role-modelling opportunities.
England’s social care workforce faces a longer-term supply crisis: while vacancies have eased to 96,000 (6.2%), Skills for Care projects the sector will need 410,000 additional posts by 2040 to keep pace with England’s ageing population. Meanwhile, annual turnover remains high at 23.6%, and when care employees are unwell or leave, the effects ripple beyond the sector itself: hospitals struggle to discharge patients into a system that cannot support them, with over 13,000 people remaining in hospital daily needing social care, occupying 13% of NHS beds. Existing workplace health tools tend to be reactive, stepping in only once an employee is already unwell, and rarely address the organisational root causes driving the crisis in the first place.
In-House Health Limited currently works with the private social care sector in England. Its workforce health platform combines clinical expertise with over 100 health, culture and operational indicators, uniquely including women’s health data absent from other workplace tools, and supports evidence for Care Quality Commission compliance and inspection. The company is building capabilities to predict long-term health risks and enable preventative intervention, with an ambition to help at least one million employees in the UK stay healthy and in work.
Emma-Louise Fusari is a nurse of 24 years with clinical experience in chronic disease management and public health promotion. She founded In-House Health after seeing colleagues and patients develop preventable illness from unaddressed workplace risk, driven by giving employers demonstrable evidence to act before crises hit.
Emma-Louise Fusari, founder of In-House Health, said:
“Every year as a nurse, I see people become unwell because of things that are entirely preventable. Social care is losing good people every day, not because they don’t care, but because nobody is measuring the impact the working environment is having on their health and wellbeing. Low staffing levels, more complex people to care for, and financial stress are not sustainable long term. This funding lets me build the technology that catches those risks early, before they cost a carer their long-term health, a provider their employees, or people the care they deserve.”
Emily Nott, Head of Inclusive Innovation, Innovate UK, said:
“Huge congratulations to everyone recognised in this year’s Women in Innovation Awards. Reaching the 10th anniversary of the programme with record levels of engagement demonstrates the extraordinary talent, unstoppable ambition, and groundbreaking innovation being developed by women across the UK. We are proud to support these inspiring founders as they navigate the critical growth stages ahead.”
Since 2016, the Women in Innovation Awards have invested over £15 million in 260 women-led businesses, with the 2025/26 cohort spanning every nation and region of the UK.
