Funding from Greater Manchester’s ecosystem
Turnover increase forecast
New jobs created
With support from GM Business Growth Hub and the wider Greater Manchester innovation ecosystem, Wisterias has accelerated its AI-powered care management platform to market – creating jobs, attracting customers, and helping smaller care providers embrace digital change.
The idea for Wisterias, a care-tech start-up based in Manchester, began with a moment of quiet reflection. Working on the frontline of her family’s care business during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsitsi Mtasa was overwhelmed by the amount of time eaten up by admin.
“There were days when we’d spend over an hour just doing the rota,” she remembers. “Then there were compliance checks, handwritten notes, and lost paperwork. And all the while, you’re trying to be there for people, listening to them and providing proper care.”
One day, after helping an older woman with her morning routine, she paused to ask about her grandson. “She lit up,” Tsitsi remembers. “Just that little bit of conversation changed her whole day. And it struck me: how many of these moments are we missing because carers are buried in paperwork?”
That question became a mission. A seed of an idea began to grow for a care management system that truly addressed the day-to-day challenges faced by those working in domiciliary care, supported living services, and residential homes.
Technology that works the way carers do
Wisterias is the result: a digital care management platform built to ease the burden on care providers, with smaller providers in mind, especially those still relying on paper-based systems or juggling disconnected apps.
“It’s affordable, cloud-based, and both mobile- and offline-friendly, which means care workers can access real-time updates on their phones, even in low-connectivity environments,” explains Tsitsi, now Founder and CEO of Wisterias. “It brings scheduling, compliance, documentation, invoicing and care planning together into one intuitive digital platform that’s been built from the ground up by people who’ve worked in the industry. We are also actively developing AI-powered features to streamline workflows and boost efficiency.
“We’ve lived these challenges. That’s why we’ve focused on what actually helps – GPS-based rostering, real-time alerts, offline access, AI-assisted record keeping. These are practical solutions to problems experienced first-hand. We understand what carers, managers and providers really need, and that insight has shaped every part of the system.”
Joined-up innovation support
The road from idea to market-ready product was made possible by support from across Greater Manchester’s innovation ecosystem, starting with a £10,000 grant from the Foundational Economy Innovation Fund in 2022. With that backing, Tsitsi was able to build a working prototype, co-design features with frontline staff, and test the product with real users.
In early 2024, Wisterias secured a further £50,000 in Innovation Fund support to enhance development and prepare for launch. “This allowed us to scale,” says Tsitsi. “We expanded core features, developed the mobile app, brought in professional testers, and refined the product based on real feedback.”
Specialist support from GM Business Growth Hub helped take things to the next level, through strategic advice, expert mentoring and flexible grant funding. Working closely with the Hub’s innovation specialists, Wisterias:
- Teamed up with a technology partner to integrate AI-powered features like document summarisation and text prediction.
- Secured innovation grant funding totalling £27,000 for product design and testing to fast-track development, cutting commercial readiness timelines from 12 months to six.
Ran live pilots with four local care providers to test usability, gather insights and strengthen user trust.
Completed independent penetration testing to meet security and compliance standards.
“The Hub helped us close the gap between what we had and what we needed to go to market,” says Tsitsi. “They brought everything together – funding, advice, connections – and kept us moving forward.”
A model of ecosystem collaboration
The Wisterias journey shows what’s possible when innovation support works in sync. Instead of fragmented one-off interventions, Wisterias benefited from a continuous chain of tailored support that kept momentum going and helped the business respond to challenges in real time. “It wasn’t just funding here and advice there,” Tsitsi says. “It was a coordinated effort that made us feel backed, understood, and believed in.”
Scaling up with confidence
With development complete and early adopters on board, Wisterias is ready to scale. Smaller care providers across Greater Manchester are already seeing the benefits: faster rostering, fewer errors, and more time to focus on people.
- Two new jobs are in the pipeline by Q1 2026.
- Turnover is projected to rise from £58,000 (2025) to £1 million by May 2028.
- Time savings of up to an hour per day are being reported by early users.
And with continued development underway, including AI-led documentation tools and a dedicated mobile app, the platform is only getting stronger. “We’re helping carers focus more on people,” says Tsitsi. “And that’s what care is really about.”
Trade Mission to Ireland
Reflecting the company’s growing reputation as an innovator in digital health and care, Wisterias was selected to join a life sciences trade mission to Ireland in November 2025. The delegation was led by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, and his Liverpool City Region counterpart Steve Rotheram. It included nine Greater Manchester businesses and three from Liverpool, and aimed to explore Ireland’s evolving healthcare landscape, gaining market insight, and identifying new opportunities for collaboration, innovation and export.
Looking to bring your idea to life?
GM Business Growth Hub helps Greater Manchester’s SMEs test, build and scale impactful innovations. Whether you’re developing a new product, validating a prototype, or planning to launch – we can connect you to the right experts, partners and funding.
Contact our team today to see how we can take your ideas to the next level. Call us on 0161 359 3050 or email bgh@growthco.uk.
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