Unapologetic About Growth: SiSU Health One Year After VC Investment

Founder in Conversation: Samantha Fay, SISU Health
 

When SISU Health secured investment from the GMC Life Sciences Fund, managed by PXN Ventures, the mission was clear: scale a preventative health platform that could help more people understand their health earlier.

Now a year on since their first investment, the Manchester-based business hasn’t stood still.

In this conversation with Ben Davies, Marketing Director at PXN Group, founder Samantha Fay (“Sam”) reflects on what actually changes after investment lands, everything from leadership and team building to sales strategy, market expansion and the realities of scaling a healthtech business.
 

The post investment founder mindset shift

For Sam, the biggest change after investment wasn’t just capital. It was perspective. “Taking investment changes the way you think about growth,” she explains. “You suddenly have the ability to focus on the key levers in the business, but you also have a responsibility to use that capital wisely.”
 

The funding from the GMC Life Sciences Fund, created to accelerate health and life sciences innovation across Greater Manchester and Cheshire, gave SISU Health the ability to invest in talent, distribution and market reach.

“The obvious shift is that you can bring in more talent and focus more intentionally on sales and marketing. Before the investment, our marketing footprint was very small. Now we can test, learn and expand our reach much more effectively.”
 

The reality of scaling. It’s just a series of ‘firsts’

One of the biggest lessons for Sam has been that growth rarely follows a straight line. “You never assume when you take investment that you know exactly how things are going to play out. At this stage you’re still trying things for the first time.” That means experimentation becomes part of the operating model. “You meet lots of people, get lots of advice and test different routes to market. But you also have to be unapologetic about focusing on sales and revenue generation.”

For a mission-driven preventative health company, that focus can feel uncomfortable at first. “We’re here to improve healthcare outcomes and help communities live healthier lives. But to achieve that mission, the business itself needs to thrive.”
 

The team has to become your focus

Investment also enabled SISU Health to expand its team and build the capabilities needed for the next phase.
That transition, however, requires founders to evolve quickly. “In a scaling business, roles change every six months anyway,” Sam says. “Investment just accelerates that curve.”

For founders used to wearing multiple hats, the shift can be challenging. “You go from doing everything yourself to stepping back and enabling others to succeed. My role now is about keeping the team focused and helping them execute on the strategy.”
 

That includes ensuring everyone is rowing in the same direction. “I often describe it as a rowing boat in fog. The team are rowing hard, but someone has to stay at the helm and keeping everyone aligned.”
 

Spend your VC cash on replicating growth (that’s what it’s for)

One of the most practical lessons has come from scaling the commercial side of the business, with SISU Health’s time and resources focused on replicating growth. “When you bring in a new sales team, you’re essentially trying to replicate the knowledge that previously sat with a handful of founders.”

That means onboarding and knowledge sharing becomes critical. “We underestimated how much work it takes to transfer that knowledge. You can’t just hand someone a sales pack and expect them to run with it.”
 

At the same time, founders must resist the temptation to try everything at once. “It’s easy to throw every marketing tactic at the wall (PR, digital ads, events, webinars) but you need to experiment carefully and measure everything.”

Knowing our place in complex healthcare markets

For SISU Health, scaling also means navigating complex health systems. The company works across corporate wellbeing, public health and NHS environments, each with different stakeholders and funding structures.

“You have to be deeply knowledgeable about your customer,” Sam says. “In the NHS and public health, outcomes from preventative healthcare can take years to materialise. That makes the market more complex, but it also creates huge opportunity.”

Recent momentum suggests the strategy is working. Over the past year, SISU Health has secured major partnerships, expanded its footprint and significantly increased its visibility across the health ecosystem. “We weren’t in rooms with NHS England a year ago,” Sam reflects. “Now we’re launching with Boots, appearing on ITV and BBC, and being invited into international conversations about preventative healthcare.”

The results are essential feedback for where SISU Health goes next

Since receiving investment from the GMC Life Sciences Fund, SISU Health has accelerated its expansion across the UK and internationally. The company has now delivered over 1.25 million health checks, helping individuals better understand their health and take action earlier. Alongside that, the business has continued to grow rapidly. SiSU Health aims to double its reach every year as demand for preventative health accelerates.
 

The increased visibility has also brought new opportunities. “Things change quickly,” Sam says. “Suddenly you’re being invited into conversations and partnerships that simply weren’t happening before. We’ve got to stay alert to new client conversations, create a feedback loop and adapt faster because we’re educating a market where we mean different things to different audiences.”
 

The founder’s advice: stay in the start-up mentality but give yourself time to think

Looking back, Sam has one key piece of advice for founders raising their first institutional round. “Don’t rush to tidy everything up.”
 

It’s a common instinct after funding to add structure, systems and layers of management. “But this phase is about growth, not perfection. You need to stay focused on the opportunities that will drive revenue and momentum.”
 

Another lesson is knowing when to step back. “As a founder, you’re used to running fast and doing everything yourself. But you have to regularly step back and see the bigger picture.”
 

Looking ahead

With momentum building and the preventative health market growing rapidly, SISU Health’s ambitions remain bold. “We’re seeing huge market pull right now,” Sam says. “Our job is to make sure we’re in the right places, with the right partners, at the right time.”

Backed by the GMC Life Sciences Fund, the company is now well positioned to continue scaling. That means expanding access to preventative health technology while generating valuable population health insights through its data and AI capabilities. And for Sam, the mission remains the same as it was on day one. “We want to help people understand their health earlier and ultimately help health systems shift from treating illness to preventing it.”
 

Samantha Fay and SISU Health attracted investment in April 2025 from the GMC Life Sciences Fund by PXN Ventures, which is a collaboration between PXN, Bruntwood SciTech, Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Enterprise Cheshire + Warrington. The funding went alongside further coinvestment from the NPIFII – PXN Equity Finance, which is managed by PXN Ventures as part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II for the British Business Bank. The deal was led by Sim Singh-Landa and Laurence Tan from the investment team.