Primio is a mobile learning platform that really helps healthcare providers become better at their jobs. Despite a social need, convincing investors proved more difficult than expected. The Investor Readiness Program helped the startup be better prepared.
'No learning management system can say they solve 82% of low back problems. We do.' Christiaan Uythoven says it without hesitation. He is sitting at a table in an establishment in his hometown of Haren, a bottle of water within reach. Christiaan is founder of Primio, a smart learning app that supports healthcare professionals and caregivers in their work. 'Very accessible, user-friendly and fun,' he stresses.
The mobile learning platform works simply. Care workers and caregivers can follow training sessions of two to 10 minutes at a time on the app. No hour-long courses or thick textbooks, but short sessions at their convenience. 'Many parties just make existing e-learning shorter and call it microlearning,' says Christiaan. 'We do it differently and prefer to call it microtraining. We make sure you do it in chunks, spread out over time, and that you keep repeating it. That makes it stick better.'
Making an impact
For years, Christiaan Uythoven ran a design agency in Rotterdam. With DIO, De Interactie Ontwerpers, he created digital environments for numerous companies, including KPN. The core was almost always the same: how do you support employees better in their work? DIO designed the interfaces, devised the communication around them and made the whole thing workable. Good work, for good customers.
Yet after a while, it began to gnaw. "Is this it?" Christiaan increasingly asked himself. He wanted to make more impact and really mean something to people. In 2013 he decided to apply his expertise to healthcare. He threw himself into innovation projects: how do you teach care workers or patients positive habits? How do you influence their behavior?
He liked it, but he also saw a pattern. Much of what was conceived ended up on clients' shelves. 'The business model was often forgotten,' he says. 'Extensive research was done on the end user, the patient. But too little thought was given to the paying user. And so they didn't buy it. I wanted to do that differently.'
Our expertise is in design and creating impact through behavioral change. That combination of skills makes all the difference.
Christiaan Uythoven
First prototypes
Slowly an idea emerged: everything he knew about design, behavior change and healthcare processes he wanted to bring together in one product. Something that would actually be used. His former fellow student and current partner Jules Weijdema helped him validate the first business cases and prototypes. Then they transformed the design firm into a product organization. Most of the employees went along with it. This is how Primio eventually saw the light of day.
In his search for the right product-market fit, he discovered that there was a growing need for a product like Primio, especially among practically trained care workers and informal caregivers. 'The domestic helpers, life support workers and volunteers are getting more and more responsibilities,' says Christiaan. 'Apart from their core tasks, they also have to do care signaling. Whether someone is deteriorating or exhibiting confused behavior, for example. And they have to be able to deal with aggression. But there was almost no support for that. So there was an opportunity for us there.'
Imminent health care crisis
That opportunity turned out to be real. Primio was growing. And after Christiaan moved to Haren for love, the company also opened an office in Groningen. With an investment from Healthy Capital, he expanded the team to 21 employees, divided between Rotterdam and Groningen. Healthcare as a customer grew less quickly than expected. The money was running out. So soon he was back at the table with investors to realize ambitions faster.
He conducted numerous interviews, all rejections. Where did it go wrong? How do you convince investors of Primio's added value? Because the need is clearly there. Healthcare is under enormous pressure. There are staff shortages and an aging population, while the demand for care is increasing. So employees must be able to continue working longer, healthily and with pleasure. Sustainable employability is more urgent than ever.
Just do it
Through Founded, he heard about NOM's Investor Readiness Program (IRP). At first, he had his doubts. Did he really need it? But those rejections didn't sit well with him. What did investors really want to see? There had to be something he wasn't communicating well. Maybe the IRP could help him get his story sharper. 'Let me just do it,' he decided.
The IRP is an intensive program for startups in need of short-term funding. Over several months, participants receive master classes from experts, learn to hone their pitch deck, and meet regional and international investors so that they become truly investor-ready. 'For a very long time I thought: if we have 15 interviews, it should work,' Christiaan says. 'But I learned that you might need 80. It's like sales, you just have to talk to a lot of people. Attracting investors is not a project you just do on the side. It's almost a full-time job.'
Ambassador
In the program, he sparred with Thomas Mensink of Golden Egg Check, which helps startups with investor matching, among other things, about his pitch deck. Two slides in particular changed dramatically. First, the team slide: telling not just what they do and have done, but what sets them apart. 'Our expertise is in design and creating impact through behavior change,' Christiaan explained. 'That combination of skills makes all the difference.' The same really applies to the competition slide: not listing all the competitors, but showing that Primio combines software, training and behavioral psychology. The IRP also taught him the importance of ambassadors within investment companies. 'For me, Leonie Ebbes was really an ambassador within NOM,' says Christiaan. 'She believed in us and in the product. That made it easier to tell my story.'
Balance
In November 2024, Primio received funding from NOM. 'The best result I could have at that time,' Christiaan smiles. 'We still spend more than comes in,' he says. 'That is often unavoidable if you want to grow. Since the IRP, I know it's all about balance. If you raise money you can easily spend it quickly, but you can also be too cautious. You have to use that money to prove that you are meeting the goals you set. And you have to work toward breaking even, because then you are in a luxury position to make the next call.'
By now he has had more than 40 conversations with investors. He is better prepared, he says, and now knows that convincing investors is a marathon, not a sprint. Currently, Primio has 13 employees and has quadrupled its recurring turnover by 2025 compared to the previous year. Recently, Primio signed a cooperation agreement with a renowned publisher. They will market Primio as a workplace solution. The reach is expected to grow significantly as a result.'
Consortium investors
What type of investors is Primio actually looking for? Christiaan is not concerned with capital alone. It must also be a party that can help the company move forward strategically. 'Preferably an investor with a strong network in healthcare,' he says. 'Health insurers, for example, who can link us to organizations that we ourselves find difficult to get into.'
Participation in the IRP is already paying off. In February, for example, Primio secured follow-up funding from a consortium of investors: VGZ, Innovation Quarter, existing investor Healthy Capital and the NOM. Primio has convinced us that the mobile learning platform is an excellent substitute for conventional training courses,' says Tristan Dikkers, investment manager at the NOM. 'Their clients are really enthusiastic.' Tristan clearly saw the lessons learned from the IRP during the investment round. 'The plans were very well substantiated. They knew how to clearly articulate which client segment Primio can best serve.'
The money goes mainly to sales, marketing and further development of Primio. 'Our product consists of two things: the training courses and the software,' he explains. 'We create a lot of value among practically trained care workers and in informal care. What we do there, very few parties do. The market is there and the solution works. Now it's a matter of scaling up.'