Circadacare - circadian lighting with AI-powered monitoring

Welcome to NEXUS Startup Diaries, the number one place to discover the hottest and most inspiring startups and founders.

Today we're excited to meet Tallie Bush of Circadacare

So Tallie, tell us more about Circadacare

Circadacare develops an innovative healthcare technology that combines circadian lighting with AI-powered monitoring to help elderly individuals maintain independence and improve quality-of-life.

Our flagship product, Heleos, is a plug-and-play smart lighting system that automatically delivers natural circadian light patterns while discreetly monitoring health and wellbeing through embedded sensors. We are based in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Our customers include local authorities, care homes, healthcare facilities, and the like. We operate primarily in the healthcare technology and elderly care sectors, specifically targeting the growing assistive technology market. Our technology addresses critical societal challenges: the UK faces an aging population with increasing rates of dementia, a shortage of care home spaces, and rising costs of residential care.

By improving sleep quality, reducing falls, alleviating sundowning symptoms, and providing non-intrusive monitoring, our solution helps extend independent living while reducing the burden on care infrastructure.

How did you come up with the business idea and what problem are you looking to solve?

Our business idea evolved from successful proof-of-concept installations of circadian lighting in UK care facilities.

We observed remarkable benefits from these installations - reduced falls, improved sleep patterns, better mood, reduced agitation, and alleviation of sundowning symptoms in residents with dementia.

These positive outcomes were not only noticed by staff but genuinely enjoyed by the residents themselves. After seeing these results in institutional settings, we recognized a significant gap in the market. The technology was only available for large care settings and was cost-prohibitive for smaller buildings or individual homes. We wanted to bring this transformative technology to people aging in place - to help them maintain independence longer.

We're addressing several interconnected problems: First, the UK faces a care crisis with an aging population. Local authorities are experiencing huge spending increases to meet these growing needs.

Second, barriers to continued independent living are amplified when elderly people live alone. The current monitoring solutions available are often invasive (cameras), easily misplaced (personal alarms), or limited to fixed locations (emergency pull cords).

Our solution combines circadian lighting with discreet AI monitoring in a single device that: - Learns individual patterns and recognizes unusual changes - Identifies potential health concerns like coughing episodes - Monitors sleep quality - Delivers automatic circadian lighting to improve sleep, mood, reduce falls, and alleviate sundowning - Creates an interoperable platform that reduces technology fragmentation.

By addressing these challenges, we're actively improving health and wellbeing while reducing pressure on an already strained care infrastructure. Our ultimate goal is to empower independence, naturally - helping people stay in their own homes longer, with better quality of life, while providing peace of mind to families and caregivers.

What made you want to start your own business?

I was not the original founder, but I was brought in to make all this happen, right at the start. I have run with it and developed the idea beyond it's original conceptualisation, and the product has grown considerably with the market knowledge we have gained over the last few years.

I wanted to get involved in something that would make a difference to people's lives, and I have always wanted to push the boundaries, either with technology or with my own learning. A start-up is the perfect place for that.

What stage is your business currently at?

Our business is at an exciting growth stage. After developing and testing our smart lighting system for elderly care, we've started manufacturing units and installing them in real-world settings like council homes and care facilities.

As an entrepreneur right now, my priorities are refreshingly straightforward: Getting our product into more homes where it can make a real difference. There's nothing like seeing our technology actually helping people maintain their independence and improve their wellbeing. Listening to our early customers and refining our offering.

The feedback we're getting is invaluable - it helps us make our product better with each iteration. Building the right team around this vision. We've assembled an incredible group with expertise in healthcare, technology, and elderly care, but growing thoughtfully is still a daily focus.

The entrepreneurial journey is always a balance between driving forward with confidence while staying flexible enough to adapt. Right now, it's about turning our vision into reality while maintaining the personal touch that makes what we do meaningful.

What do you love most about being an entrepreneur?

Doing something that matters that nobody's really cracked yet. The dynamics! Learning!

What is the number one business tip you've learned that you'd like to share with fellow budding entrepreneurs?

Open and honest communication is key, it will take longer than you think, and there is loads of help out there if you look for it.

Anything else you'd like to share?

Don't let imposter syndrome hold you back.

Where can people find you online?

 Connect with us on LinkedIn to carry on the conversation. 

It's been really great to chat today Tallie! Good luck in the future with your business and we look forward to catching up with you soon.

If you're interested in starting, running or scaling your own business, then why not enquire about NEXUS membership here

...and if you're interested in featuring your own entrepreneurial journey on the NEXUS Startup Diaries blog, then get in touch and let's share that story with the world!