What Is Untap Health?
Untap Health is a British health technology startup founded in 2021 by Dr Claire Trant and Dr Jay Bullen. Based in London, the company specialises in real-time wastewater-based disease surveillance — a novel approach that detects signs of infectious diseases by analysing sewage rather than relying on individual clinical testing. (Startups.co.uk)
Its core mission is to identify pathogen presence early — often before symptoms appear — so organisations can act to prevent outbreaks in workplaces, care homes, educational institutions, and other high-risk environments. (Untap)
Technology & Innovation
Wastewater Surveillance
Untap Health’s system continuously monitors wastewater on-site using automated sensors and detection equipment. This enables it to spot the presence of pathogens such as:
- COVID-19
- Influenza
- Norovirus
- Other respiratory and gastrointestinal disease agents
The company claims its technology can detect the equivalent of a single infected person in a community of 10,000, with high sensitivity and specificity, without the need for individual testing. (BusinessCloud)
Unlike traditional municipal wastewater testing (which tends to involve manual sampling and lab processing), Untap’s approach is:
- Plug-and-play and easy to install
- Continuous and real-time
- Non-invasive (no swabs or individual tests)
- Integrated with digital dashboards for actionable reporting (Startups.co.uk)
This gives organisations early warning of disease signals, typically up to 10 days before conventional detection methods would catch an outbreak. (Startups.co.uk)
Recognition & Funding
Untap has been recognised as one of the UK’s most promising new tech businesses, featuring in the Startups 100 Index for 2026 — a list highlighting innovative and fast-growing UK startups. (Startups.co.uk)
It has also:
- Raised pre-seed funding (approx. £1.1M–£1.37M) from investors including 7percent Ventures and support from Entrepreneur First and other funds. (Imperial College London)
- Won the Tech Innovation Award at Stage Two and been selected among TechCrunch’s Startup Battlefield 200 companies. (Imperial College London)
Additionally, Untap was included in accelerator support programmes involving well-established partners, underscoring investor confidence in its technology. (Imperial College London)
Target Markets & Use Cases
Untap Health’s surveillance tech is being piloted or used across a range of environments where early detection matters most:
- Care homes and senior living facilities
- Hospitals and healthcare settings
- Workplaces and corporate offices
- Universities and educational campuses
- Cruise ships, airports, and other large communal facilities (Untap)
Real-world success stories include:
- University of Cambridge: Early detection of multiple viruses allowed targeted infection control actions. (Untap)
- Ascot Residential Homes: Enabled proactive infection prevention measures ahead of outbreaks. (Untap)
- Somerset House (Makerversity): Detected COVID-19 variant spikes that traditional methods had missed. (Untap)
Strategic Vision
Untap’s broader goal is to shift how society responds to infectious diseases — from reactive testing to proactive surveillance. The company envisions a future where real-time wastewater surveillance data can:
- Support smarter public health decision-making
- Power predictive modelling and artificial intelligence tools
- Enable community-level health risk mapping
- Improve outbreak resource allocation and intervention strategies (Startups.co.uk)
Why It Matters
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted gaps in traditional infectious disease monitoring. Untap Health’s approach proposes a cost-effective, non-intrusive, and continuous early warning system that could reduce:
- Sick days and lost productivity
- Healthcare system burden
- Outbreak-related closures and disruptions
By transforming wastewater — often an overlooked data source — into actionable health insights, Untap aims to be a leading contributor to preventative public health tech worldwide. (Startups.co.uk)
Here are real-world case studies and expert comments illustrating how Untap Health — the UK HealthTech startup focused on real-time wastewater-based disease surveillance — is being used, what impact it has delivered, and what professionals are saying about this emerging technology:
Case Studies & Implementation Examples
1. Multi-Virus Wastewater Monitoring Across UK Sites (Peer-Reviewed Research)
A 2025 study led by Jay Bullen of Untap Health with collaborators including the University of Cambridge tracked multiple pathogens (COVID-19, influenza, norovirus, RSV) by analysing wastewater at five different sites—an office, a care home, a museum, a charity centre, and a university coworking space. (ScienceDaily)
Key findings from this real-world deployment:
- Wastewater data captured infection events that were not observed by national health surveillance, especially in smaller, more closed communities such as care homes. (ScienceDaily)
- When local disease indicators rose, site teams responded with interventions like enhanced cleaning or hygiene notices. (ScienceDaily)
- The data aligned with confirmed case reports in larger, more open sites like the university, validating the method’s reliability. (ScienceDaily)
Why it matters: This study demonstrates that near-source wastewater monitoring provides both early warning signals and actionable insights that institutions can use to reduce transmission locally—without intrusive individual testing. (ScienceDaily)
2. Early Pilot Deployments and Lessons from Innovate UK Support
Pilot projects funded via Innovate UK grants helped Untap to refine its technology and test prototypes in real environments, including public buildings like Somerset House, among others. (Innovate UK Business Connect)
What these pilots showed:
- Automated wastewater monitoring could deliver more timely and sensitive detection than lateral flow testing at a lower per-person cost. (Innovate UK Business Connect)
- Data frequency matters: customers preferred daily health insights rather than continuous, high-volume reporting. (Innovate UK Business Connect)
- The early signals from wastewater allowed precautionary measures to be taken before outbreaks spread. (Innovate UK Business Connect)
Untap CEO Claire Trant explained that sharing wastewater-derived data gives people information they can use either to reassure themselves that no virus appears to be present or to act quickly if one does. (Innovate UK Business Connect)
3. Pilot Feedback: Real-Time Alerts Prevent Outbreaks (Startups 100 Narrative)
Independent reporting from Startups 100 (2026) described how Untap detected norovirus signals early in a community that was otherwise unaware of infection. (Startups.co.uk)
Outcome:
- The early warning enabled stakeholders to implement protective measures before a full-blown outbreak occurred, significantly reducing disruption and spread. (Startups.co.uk)
Expert & Leadership Comments
On the Value of Wastewater Monitoring
Leading voices in Untap’s leadership and broader public-health commentary underscore the strong prevention potential of their technology:
Claire Trant, CEO of Untap Health
“Wastewater surveillance doesn’t just show us what’s already happened—it alerts us to infection risk before symptoms arise and before cases are confirmed in clinics.”
She explains that this insight helps organisations act sooner, reducing productivity losses, sick days, and costly outbreaks. (LinkedIn)
Academic & sector commentary notes that wastewater monitoring can reveal trends invisible to traditional systems, especially in smaller settings that national surveillance might overlook. (ScienceDaily)
Public Health & System-Level Context
While not about Untap specifically, a major UK public health initiative signals broader recognition of wastewater surveillance’s value: the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) launched a £1.3 m programme to improve wastewater detection technologies for a wide range of pathogens—including potential future pandemic threats. (GOV.UK)
This reflects rising consensus that wastewater-based methods are a key tool in national biosecurity and early warning systems, bridging gaps left by conventional clinical testing. (GOV.UK)
Summary: What These Case Studies & Comments Show
On-site wastewater monitoring catches early infection signals that traditional surveillance may miss, especially in closed communities. (ScienceDaily)
Pilot deployments improved detection sensitivity and actionable outcomes, validating Untap’s approach as beyond lab concepts to real application. (Innovate UK Business Connect)
Leadership commentary and public health trends confirm a shift toward proactive, community-level disease prevention. (LinkedIn)