ELEVATOR PITCH
Founded in 2015 by combining his skills in video production and his life expertise is helping people with Learning Disabilities and Autism, overcome barriers to their independence, William Britton aims to make a huge impact on the industry so close to his heart.
Before I put my stuff in the washing machine, I use the App for dusting, hoovering, and changing my bedding.
– AutonoMe Service User
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“We are a support provider for people with learning disabilities. We’ve supported people from 12 years old all the way up to those in their early 70s. Everyone who uses our service has a learning disability of some sort. We help support them with a wide variety of activities in the home such as preparing and cooking food, cleaning the house, develop personal hygiene skills and keeping safe and secure”.
OUR STORY
AutonoMe works closely with Local Governments across the country and their key partners to fundamentally change the way they support residents with Learning Disabilities and Autism.
What makes AutonoMe special is that support with activities is not delivered in the traditional method; that is, by a person. Instead, AutonoMe provides high-quality tailored video content delivered through the App with home-based activities as and when the user chooses. This enables Local Governments to combine traditional support methods with technology to deliver cost-effective support packages that better understand and meet the needs of their population.
“By monitoring the way our users interact with our App, our team is able to study this data and provide continuous feedback to the local government and their key partners”.
Since founding AutonoMe, William Britton has brought together a team of industry experts to continuously study and interpret user data in line with individual outcomes. The team provides reports, using real-time data as evidence, to help the authority ensure users are getting the right levels of support at the right time.
“Our vision is to become the largest support provider in the country, helping thousands of people with Learning Disabilities and Autism each day overcome barriers to independence. Using our data to measure and celebrate their success whilst working closely with authorities to build data-driven services fit for the 21st century”.
Bristol has an excellent ecosystem to start a tech company that AutonoMe has clearly benefitted from. Through this ecosystem, AutonoMe had access to workshops, meeting space, investors, thought leaders, experts, legal advice, marketing, board members, mentors, staff members, and much more. Bristol has a thriving tech scene keen to share openly and honestly what it takes to found a company and scale it up and the support you’ll need along the way.
We strive to make the girls as independent as possible. One is very capable in the kitchen, and the App really developed her skills. We’ve taken a massive step backward in our involvement since using AutonoMe.
– Support Worker helping an AutonoMe user
“The opportunities I had to meet and network with other tech founders with big ambitions was pivotal to building the foundations of the company. Being able to gather expertise and insight from a variety of people who have been there and done it was incredibly beneficial not just to the company but for my personal journey as a founder-turned-CEO”.
Reflecting on the advice and skills needed to build a company, William explained that “communication is key – if you can’t communicate your ideas in a way people can digest or understand then you don’t have a business. You’ll need to communicate with your clients, staff, suppliers, investors, mentors, and board all the time. Spend time working on this skill and it will pay dividends”.
“I founded AutonoMe when I was in my late 20s with lots of naive optimism. I didn’t realise at the time I would be poor for a long time – accepting that is wise! I did question myself a lot but I’ve always been able to remain clear about who I am, what I stood for, and what I wanted to achieve. This helped me get good people around me to gravitate towards the mission. We’re only successful because we have a great team and everyone works really hard. For others looking to start their own company, I’d say get in good people who can see what you’re trying to build and make sure they share your vision”.
MILESTONES
- Cambridge Social Ventures Prizewinner 2019
- Digital Leaders ‘Public Innovation’ finalists 2019
- UnLTD Grow IT award 2016
- IoTUK Health and Social Care ‘best user design’ Prizewinner 2016
- Start-up of the Year 2015 finalist
