99. PharmAppy: reimagining pharmacy care, one prescription at a time

Founders: Rhys Lloyd, Nick Lloyd, and Josh Ablett
Year founded: 2022
Website: pharmappy.com

It was Rhys Lloyd’s father who inspired the invention of PharmAppy. Lloyd Sr. has worked in pharmacy for over 25 years, and he would tell his son about how old-fashioned the systems were, even after two and a half decades. Baffled that such an important service could be so neglected, Lloyd began to look into the world of patient-facing solutions.

That research led to the creation of PharmAppy, a patient app that’s fully-embedded into a pharmacy’s workflow. By directly connecting to your pharmacy, PharmAppy ensures your prescriptions are always within reach.

No more paperwork and letter files. The app allows patients to easily order, track and manage their own and their family’s prescriptions, book pharmacy services, message their pharmacist, and even record vaccinations.

There were financial challenges to launching the startup. To fund the venture, Lloyd’s cofounder, Josh Ablett worked as a chef part-time to bring in some money, whilst still managing his full-time procurement job in the NHS. They’d finish work and then be up until the early hours of the morning designing and developing the first version of the PharmAppy platform. Luckily, that graft has paid off and then some.

“Last year, we closed a six-figure investment from and partnership with Tariq Muhammad, CEO of Invatech Health,” says Lloyd. “One of Invatech’s products is Titan PMR, an innovative patient medication record system in the UK, which uses AI to clinically check prescriptions and is live in over 800 pharmacies. PharmAppy is fully embedded into Titan software.”

Another win that made the cofounders very ’Appy was signing up one of the top ten largest pharmacies in the UK to build its new patient-facing solution using PharmAppy tech.

Looking ahead, Lloyd hopes PharmAppy will become the most widely used patient app in the UK for accessing pharmacy services. We love how PharmAppy continues to improve the patient experience. It will no doubt provide a vital direct line for patients and their loved ones across the UK in 2025.