Expert Self Care

What Expert Self Care does

Expert Self Care Ltd is a Bristol-based private health-technology company founded in 2012 by Dr Knut Schroeder, a UK GP with more than 30 years of NHS experience. It operates a portfolio of ten free mobile health applications on iOS and Android — including distrACT (self-harm support), CONfidence (bladder and bowel leakage), the Eating Disorder Support App, the PKD App, the Student Health App, and HeliOffshore Wellbeing — each purpose-built for a specific community and co-created with clinicians, specialist charities, and people with lived experience. The apps are entirely free to end users with no sign-up, no advertising, no in-app purchases, and no personal data collection, and are independently certified under PIF TICK, ORCHA, and NHS DTAC frameworks, with offline-access capability built in for low-connectivity environments.

Underlying technology is a native iOS/Android stack engineered for clinical safety and privacy by design, supported by a structured editorial process with annual reviews on fast-changing clinical content and three-yearly reviews on stable content. The company's revenue model has three tiers: free apps for end users; Local App Pages — a paid subscription add-on (from £400/month +VAT) that lets NHS, university, council, and charity organisations add a branded local homepage and support directory to an existing app; and Bespoke Apps — fully commissioned, custom-branded health apps scoped and priced per project (typical 8-12 week build). Grants from bodies such as the National Lottery Community Fund and Ethical Partnerships with commercial sponsors provide additional, non-recurring and project-based funding. The go-to-market combines product-led growth through the Apple App Store and Google Play, channel partnerships with Impact Partners (NHS bodies, universities, charities), and an enterprise field-sales motion with 20-minute intro calls targeted at NHS teams, universities, local authorities, charities, and industry organisations across the UK, Ireland, and selected global markets.

Name

Expert Self Care

Legal name

Expert Self Care Ltd

Website

https://expertselfcare.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Expert Self Care is a Bristol-based health-technology company that builds free, clinically reviewed mobile health apps for specific communities — including students, young carers, and people with self-harm, eating disorders, and kidney disease — and sells branded Local App Pages and bespoke commissioned apps to NHS, university, charity, and industry clients across the UK, Ireland, and globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Health Apps

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132), Offices of Mental Health Practitioners (except Physicians) (621330)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Patient Education, Content & Personalized Journey Orchestration (HLACAEAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Patient Portals & Self-Service Access (HLACAEAA), Custom Application Development (Web/Mobile/Desktop) (BPAEAFAA)

Keywords

• Digital health apps
• Mobile health applications
• Patient information
• Clinical health content
• Self-care applications

Headquarters

HQ city

Bristol

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. App Subscriptions: Organisations subscribe for local editions of apps with branded homepage and local support directory. From £400/month (+VAT) for public-benefit organisations.
2. Bespoke App Commissioning: Organisations commission fully branded, custom health apps built around their specific community and priorities. Scoped and priced individually based on goals, community, and scale of needs.
3. Grants: Funding from trusted public and not-for-profit bodies such as National Lottery Community Fund.
4. Ethical Partnerships: Commercial partners fund or sponsor projects for meaningful association with trusted, impactful digital health. No in-app advertising or access to user data.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Expert Self Care develops a portfolio of free, clinically reviewed mobile health apps for iOS and Android, each tailored to a specific community (students, young carers, people who self-harm, those with bladder/bowel leakage, eating disorders, PKD, farmers, offshore helicopter workers, international students). The company generates revenue from organisations through Local App Pages (branded local home pages and support directories added to existing apps, from £400/month) and Bespoke Apps (fully custom branded app development with co-creation, design, accreditation, and launch).

Product overview

Expert Self Care operates a portfolio of 10 free, clinically reviewed mobile health apps — each purpose-built for a specific community: CONfidence (bladder and bowel leakage), distrACT (self-harm and suicidal feelings), Eating Disorder Support, Fit Farmers (Irish farming communities), HeliOffshore Wellbeing (offshore helicopter workers), International Student App (UK), PKD App (polycystic kidney disease), Student Health App (UK), Student Health Matters (Ireland), and Young Carers Support. All apps are entirely free to download on iOS and Android, require no account or personal data collection, and are PIF TICK accredited, ORCHA assessed, and NHS DTAC compliant. The portfolio is complemented by two paid services: Local App Pages (branded local home pages and service directories added to existing apps) and Bespoke Apps (fully custom branded app development). The company was founded in 2012 and has supported over 250,000 people across the UK and Ireland.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CONfidence App (UK) Free mobile app providing discreet, clinically grounded guidance for adults living with bladder and bowel leakage, covering symptom understanding, self-care, daily confidence, and NHS service signposting. Co-produced with Professor Nikki Cotterill (UWE Bristol), continence specialists, and specialist charities including Bladder & Bowel UK, ERIC, Florence Nightingale Foundation, and Bristol Urological Institute.
• distrACT (UK) Free mobile app providing clear, clinically trusted guidance for people who self-harm or feel suicidal, covering plain-English symptom explanations, practical coping strategies, trusted support signposting, and calm crisis steps. Co-created with people with lived experience, mental health clinicians, and specialist charities including Self-Injury Support and University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. Winner of the British Medical Association Patient Information Award.
• Eating Disorder Support App (UK) Free mobile app providing calm, stigma-free guidance for people with eating disorders and those supporting them, covering symptom understanding, safer coping strategies, moments of calm, and NHS pathway and specialist charity signposting. Co-produced with Bristol Health Partners Eating Disorder Health Integration Team (EDHIT), clinicians, eating disorder specialists, people with lived experience, and charities including Anorexia & Bulimia Care, First Steps ED, and PANS PANDAS UK. ORCHA assessed and NHS DTAC compliant.
• Fit Farmers App (Ireland) Free mobile app providing practical physical and mental health guidance rooted in real farming life for Irish farmers, covering stress management, sleep, injury prevention, healthier routines, and rural wellbeing and crisis support signposting. Developed in partnership with the Fit Farmers Programme and its founder Laura Tully, with farming organisations and rural health professionals across Ireland. Works offline for use in fields and yards.
• HeliOffshore Wellbeing (Global) Free mobile app providing evidence-informed wellbeing guidance for offshore helicopter maintenance teams worldwide, covering stress, fatigue, shift work, focus, team communication, and crisis support signposting. Developed in partnership with HeliOffshore (global offshore helicopter safety organisation) and Allaxa Aviation Psychology, with contributors having direct experience of safety-critical operational environments. Winner of the Medilink South West Advances in Digital Healthcare Award.
• International Student App (UK) Free mobile app helping international students in the UK settle, stay well, and thrive, covering UK healthcare registration, accommodation, transport, finance, mental and physical health, university navigation, and crisis guidance. Co-created with international students and support teams, and developed in partnership with Student Minds.
• PKD App (UK) Free mobile app providing clinically grounded guidance for people affected by ADPKD (autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease), covering condition understanding, diet, exercise, family planning, genetic counselling, and renal service and PKD Charity signposting. Commissioned by The PKD Charity, developed with Kidney Care UK, Kidney Research UK, and UK Kidney Association, and funded by the National Lottery Community Fund.
• Student Health App (UK) Free mobile app providing trusted, clinically reviewed health and wellbeing guidance for UK university and college students, covering health symptom explanations, self-care guidance, NHS service navigation, and university and charity signposting. Co-created with the University of Bristol Students' Health Service and diverse students, independently assessed by ORCHA and NHS DTAC compliant. Fully relaunching for autumn 2026.
• Student Health Matters App (Ireland) Free mobile app providing trusted, clinically reviewed health and wellbeing guidance for students across Irish higher education institutions, covering healthy living, mental health, sexual health, Health A-Z, self-care skills, and HSE and university service signposting. Developed in partnership with the Irish Student Health Association (ISHA) and co-created with student health professionals and students from SETU and TUS.
• Young Carers Support App (UK) Free mobile app providing age-appropriate, practical guidance for young carers in the UK, covering understanding caring responsibilities, rights and entitlements, school and education, benefits and finances, relationships, mental health and wellbeing, and local and national service signposting. Developed with West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership and co-produced with Barnardo's, Caring Together, Carers' Resource, and Family Action Leeds. PIF TICK certified.
• Local App Pages Paid subscription service allowing NHS, local government, university, charity, and commercial organisations to add a branded local home page and local support directory to an existing Expert Self Care app. Includes anonymous analytics, user feedback surveys, free content updates, and a marketing toolkit. Priced from £400/month (+VAT) for public-benefit organisations. Typical launch time: one to two weeks from first call. 90-day money-back guarantee on annual subscriptions.
• Bespoke Apps Commissioned full-app development service for NHS, university, local government, charity, and industry organisations requiring a fully branded, custom-built health app tailored to a specific community. Expert Self Care handles co-creation and content, design and native iOS/Android development, ORCHA assessment, PIF TICK accreditation, DTAC compliance, App Store launch, analytics, marketing toolkit, and ongoing maintenance. Typical time from first call to launch: 8-12 weeks. Backed by a 90-day satisfaction guarantee.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 250,000 people supported since 2012 across UK and Ireland
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments13 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

24 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• West Yorkshire Health and Care PartnershipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped the Young Carers Support App in partnership with West Yorkshire Health and Care Partnership, co-produced with Barnardo's, Caring Together, Carers' Resource, and Family Action Leeds.
• Irish Student Health Association (ISHA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerISHA partnered with Expert Self Care to develop Student Health Matters app for Irish third-level students. App launched at ISHA 2020 conference in Dublin.
• South East Technological University (SETU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudent health professionals and students from SETU co-created Student Health Matters app content.
• Technological University of the Shannon (TUS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStudent health professionals and students from TUS co-created Student Health Matters app content.
• HeliOffshorecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal safety organisation for offshore helicopter industry partnered to develop HeliOffshore Wellbeing app - representing operators and industry stakeholders globally.
• Allaxa Aviation PsychologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialists in aviation wellbeing and human factors contributed to HeliOffshore Wellbeing app development alongside Expert Self Care.
• The PKD CharitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommissioned PKD App for people with polycystic kidney disease. The PKD Charity shaped content and champions the app within their community.
• Kidney Care UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Expert Self Care to develop PKD App content alongside Kidney Research UK and UK Kidney Association.
• Kidney Research UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Expert Self Care to develop PKD App content alongside Kidney Care UK and UK Kidney Association.
• UK Kidney AssociationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with Expert Self Care to develop PKD App content alongside Kidney Care UK and Kidney Research UK.
• Student MindscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUK's student mental health charity partnered to develop International Student App, co-creating content with international students and support teams.
• Bristol Health Partners Eating Disorder Health Integration Team (EDHIT)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEDHIT partnered with Expert Self Care to develop Eating Disorder Support App, co-produced with clinicians, specialists, and people with lived experience.
• Anorexia & Bulimia CarecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialist eating disorder charity partnered to co-produce Eating Disorder Support App content.
• First Steps EDcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEating disorder specialist charity contributed to Eating Disorder Support App development alongside Expert Self Care.
• PANS PANDAS UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialist charity partnered to co-produce Eating Disorder Support App content.
• University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNHS Foundation Trust partnered to co-create distrACT app alongside Expert Self Care.
• Self-Injury SupportcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialist charity partnered to co-create distrACT app with people with lived experience of self-harm.
• University of Bristol Students' Health ServicecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created Student Health App with diverse students and continues to develop the app in collaboration with universities, clinicians, and sector partners.
• Professor Nikki Cotterill (UWE Bristol)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed development of CONfidence app alongside Expert Self Care founder Dr Knut Schroeder.
• Bladder & Bowel UKcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialist continence charity partnered to co-produce CONfidence app content.
• ERICcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChildren's bladder and bowel charity contributed to CONfidence app development.
• Florence Nightingale FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNursing charity partnered to co-produce CONfidence app content.
• Bristol Urological InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpecialist urological institute partnered to co-produce CONfidence app content.
• Fit Farmers ProgrammecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEstablished community-led initiative supporting Irish farmers' health and wellbeing. Founder Laura Tully partnered closely with Expert Self Care to develop the app.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• SilverCloud Health: SilverCloud (Amwell) provides digital mental health platforms used by the NHS for anxiety, depression, and chronic conditions. Comparable to Expert Self Care as a digital mental health platform delivering evidence-based self-help content via mobile/web to NHS-commissioned populations.
• MyTherapy: MyTherapy is a free mobile health management app for medication reminders, symptom tracking, and condition-specific education. Comparable to Expert Self Care as a free, evidence-informed mobile health app targeting patients managing chronic or stigmatised conditions.
• HealthUnlocked: HealthUnlocked builds patient community and content platforms for condition-specific support, including NHS-endorsed patient engagement tools. Comparable to Expert Self Care's PKD App, CONfidence, and Eating Disorder app as community-tailored health information and engagement platforms.
• Patient.info: Patient.info is one of the UK's most-used patient information platforms providing symptom, condition, and self-care guidance to the public. Comparable to Expert Self Care as a trusted patient education and self-care content resource targeting UK consumers and clinicians.
• ORCHA: ORCHA reviews, assesses, and distributes health apps across the NHS and globally, serving as both a quality gatekeeper and marketplace for digital health products. Expert Self Care's apps are ORCHA-assessed, and both companies operate in the trusted digital health apps space serving NHS and public-sector commissioners.
• Big Health: Big Health develops evidence-based digital therapeutics for mental health (Sleepio, Daylight) targeting insomnia and anxiety with employer and NHS pathways. Comparable to Expert Self Care's distrACT and Eating Disorder Support apps in addressing mental health conditions via clinically-reviewed mobile interventions.

Broad incumbents

• Zava: Zava is an online digital health provider offering remote consultations, treatment, and self-care content across the UK and Europe. Comparable as a UK/Europe digital health provider offering direct-to-consumer self-care guidance and NHS-aligned services.
• Huma (formerly Medopad): Huma is a well-capitalised digital health platform providing remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics across multiple conditions, including NHS partnerships. Comparable as a digital health platform building disease-specific patient engagement tools for health systems.

Others

• Mind (mental health charity): Mind is the UK's leading mental health charity and operates the Mind App Library which features Expert Self Care's distrACT app. Comparable as a UK mental health information and support ecosystem, though Mind is a charity rather than a commercial app publisher.

Emerging players

• Wellmind Health: Wellmind Health is a UK-based digital therapeutics company offering NHS-approved mental health apps such as Be Mindful and Escape Pain. Directly comparable as a UK-anchored, NHS DTAC-compliant digital therapeutics provider focused on evidence-based mental and physical health interventions.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/expert-self-care-ltd
• Facebookfacebook.com/expertselfcare

Compliance7 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Expert Self Care