November 12, 2021 4.02 pm This story is over 28 months old

Lincoln entrepreneur secures £2.4m for wearable tech growth

It almost doubles the company’s total funding
Leo Scott Smith, CEO of tech safety startup Tended.
By Local Democracy Reporter

A Lincoln-based technology safety startup has secured £2.4 million of investment to propel business growth

The investment, led by Blackfinch Ventures, brings the company’s total funding to £4.4 million, almost doubling Tended’s previous funding amount.

Tended was founded in 2017 by Leo Scott Smith, a Lincoln-based entrepreneur who was included in The Lincolnite‘s 2019 30 under 30 list for Lincolnshire, as well as Forbes’ 2021 30 under 30 list for technology.

Leo Scott Smith is the CEO of Tended, based in Lincoln.

The company creates wearable safety solutions used across various industries, including construction, manufacturing and logistics, in order to improve employee safety and efficiency.

Last year, Tended launched a smart vibrating wristband that would help maintain social distancing for those working in construction and infrastructure, as well as flagging up anyone who came into contact with people who tested positive for coronavirus.

Tended’s new social distancing solution is designed to keep employees a safe distance apart when they are at work.

Tended’s wide range of customers already includes the likes of Siemens, Rolls-Royce and Network Rail, and this investment comes as the company looks to bolster its offerings with a new safety culture solution.

The new product will combine wearable technology with behavioural psychology, acting as a reinforcement to alert employees before entering a hazardous area of a site.

The seven figure investment will allow for Tended to facilitate further research and development of its products and solutions.

Tended’s CEO and founder, Leo Scott Smith, said: “Every company has its own unique set of safety challenges. Interventions such as training and processes only go so far to improve safety.

“We’re helping companies uncover and understand the underlying influences of unsafe actions and provide the resources to help them change those behaviours. 

“We aim to help companies achieve sustainable change to promote a safer workplace and positive employee experience.

“The team has been working hard on product development and thanks to investors like Basinghall, we’re one step closer to making sure loved ones return home from dangerous working environments at the end of the day.”