What Live UTI Free does

Live UTI Free is an Ireland-based patient research and education platform founded in 2016 by Melissa Kramer, focused on recurrent and chronic urinary tract infections (UTI). The platform primarily serves women who experience recurrent UTIs (defined as two or more UTIs in six months or three or more in twelve months) or chronic UTI, with secondary audiences of healthcare clinicians and academic researchers. It operates as a free digital platform with multilingual content available in 10+ languages, publishing 89 educational articles, a podcast series ("Beyond the Symptoms," 33 episodes), video content on YouTube and TikTok, a UTI quiz tool, and a clinical trial recruitment platform connecting patients with research studies.

The platform's core technology centers on validated patient-reported outcome measures — the Recurrent UTI Symptom Scale (RUTISS) and Recurrent UTI Impact Questionnaire (RUTIIQ) — developed through the Global UTI Project and published in peer-reviewed journals including Urology and Neurourology and Urodynamics. These instruments represent the first fully validated PROMs for recurrent UTI, developed in collaboration with university partners. The product suite also includes the Bladder Biome Project (a urinary microbiome research initiative) and the APUR alliance coordinating patient advocacy and research with Chronic UTI Australia, CUTIC UK, and Let's Talk UTI US across Ireland, Australia, the UK, and the US.

The business model is donation- and grant-funded. Live UTI Free Ltd. is registered as an Irish private limited company and is not a listed charity, meaning public contributions are not tax-deductible. Revenue derives from voluntary public donations, research grants, and academic partnerships with institutions including University College London, Leiden University Medical Center, University of Reading, Monash University, and La Trobe University. All user-facing resources are provided at no cost, with no paid software offerings or direct product sales, and the organization employs 18 people.

Name

Live UTI Free

Legal name

Live UTI Free Ltd.

Website

https://liveutifree.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Live UTI Free is an Ireland-based patient education and research platform serving women with recurrent and chronic urinary tract infections. It provides free multilingual content, a podcast, clinical trial recruitment, and validated patient-reported outcome measures developed with university partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Contributions and donations: Live UTI Free accepts financial contributions and donations from the public to support its ongoing projects, research, and awareness initiatives. The organization states it is not a listed non-profit and contributions are therefore not tax-deductible, but it operates under the guidance of an ethics board.
2. Research grants and partnerships: Live UTI Free collaborates with academic institutions and university partners on clinical trials and research studies, which are funded through research grants. These partnerships generate revenue for the organization while advancing patient-centred UTI research.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

Live UTI Free operates a free, multilingual patient research and education platform for people with recurrent and chronic urinary tract infection (UTI) and related women's pelvic health conditions. It combines an educational website, an interactive UTI quiz, personal recovery stories, an expert-interview podcast ('Beyond the Symptoms'), a YouTube video library, and clinical trial recruitment services, while also co-developing validated patient-reported outcome measures (RUTISS and RUTIIQ) and conducting collaborative research with university partners.

Product overview

Live UTI Free is a patient research and education platform offering a comprehensive suite of resources for recurrent UTI and women's pelvic health. The core offering includes an educational website with articles, guides, and a UTI quiz, supplemented by the 'Beyond the Symptoms' podcast series featuring expert interviews, and a video content library on YouTube. The platform operates a clinical trial recruitment service connecting patients with research studies, maintains a collection of personal patient recovery stories, and conducts its own research initiatives including the Bladder Biome Project. The organization has also co-developed validated patient-reported outcome measures (RUTISS and RUTIIQ) for use in clinical practice and trials. All resources are provided free to patients, with the platform operating under the guidance of an ethics board.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Live UTI Free Educational Platform Multilingual digital patient education and research platform providing free articles, guides, personal stories, a UTI quiz, clinician materials, and clinical trial recruitment for women with recurrent or chronic UTI and the clinicians who treat them.
• Beyond the Symptoms Podcast Expert-interview podcast series featuring world-renowned urologists, urogynecologists, researchers, and patient advocates discussing chronic UTI, biofilms, antibiotic resistance, bladder health, endometriosis, hormone therapy, and related pelvic-health topics; distributed on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and RSS.
• UTI Quiz Interactive online quiz that helps patients identify their symptoms and circumstances and routes them to relevant educational resources on recurrent and chronic UTI; responses also contribute to ongoing patient-reported research data.
• Clinical Trial Recruitment Platform Service connecting recurrent and chronic UTI patients with academic and industry-sponsored clinical trials and research studies, including vaccine, antibiotic, and advanced-diagnostic studies, by leveraging the Live UTI Free patient community for recruitment and patient and public involvement.
• Recurrent UTI Symptom Scale (RUTISS) and Recurrent UTI Impact Questionnaire (RUTIIQ) Validated patient-reported outcome measures for recurrent urinary tract infection, designed for use in clinical practice and clinical trials to reliably detect symptom changes and to establish what constitutes a meaningful improvement from the patient perspective.

Quantifiable outcome

• Validated PROM instruments (RUTISS, RUTIIQ) ready for use in clinical practice and clinical trials, published in peer-reviewed journals (Urology, Neurourology and Urodynamics).
• +1 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• APUR (Alliance for Patient-centred UTI Research)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAPUR is a formal global alliance co-founded by Live UTI Free (IE), Chronic UTI Australia, CUTIC (UK), and Let's Talk UTI (US). The alliance advances patient-centred UTI research, improves quality of life and access to care for people living with UTI, and coordinates large-scale research projects. APUR's first major collaboration was The Global UTI Project (2024), which produced the validated RUTISS and RUTIIQ PROM instruments.
• University College London (UCL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with Live UTI Free on research including the development of novel treatments such as CapFuran (microencapsulated nitrofurantoin targeting embedded bacteria and biofilms). Professor Jenny Roan (Head of the Centre for Urological Biology at UCL) has appeared on the Live UTI Free podcast and the organization references UCL research extensively.
• Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners with Live UTI Free on the global survey study 'How do UTIs make you feel?' examining the social and emotional impact of UTIs. The study is conducted by the Leiden University Center for Infectious Diseases in collaboration with LUF.
• University of ReadingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates on multiple research studies including the UTI and Sexual Wellbeing Study (singles and couples), the Clinician Study for UTI PROM Development, and the Digital Microbiology Healthy Urogenital Biome Study. The university partnership has co-produced validated PROM instruments.
• Monash UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners through Dr. Malcolm Starkey at the Urinary Tract Disease Research Group at Monash University. Dr. Starkey appeared on the Live UTI Free podcast discussing standard UTI test failures and immunotherapy approaches. LUF promotes and supports Monash-based UTI research.
• La Trobe UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProfessor Begoña Heras and Dr. Jason Paxman, structural biologists from La Trobe University in Australia, were featured on the Live UTI Free podcast discussing anti-biofilm therapy for chronic UTI. The collaboration supports research into novel treatment approaches for embedded infections.
• Growth MechanicsminorOthersIdentified as the company that built the Live UTI Free website (credited in the footer: 'Built with love by Growth Mechanics'). This is a service/vendor relationship for website development and maintenance.
• Digital Microbiology (UK non-profit research lab)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA UK-based non-profit research laboratory collaborating with Live UTI Free and University of Reading on the Digital Microbiology Healthy Urogenital Biome Study. Digital Microbiology develops advanced DNA sequencing UTI tests and works with LUF on research involving healthy controls for urinary microbiome comparison.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Let's Talk UTI: US-based patient advocacy organization for recurrent UTI and APUR alliance co-founder; directly comparable mission and patient-community focus.
• The Cystitis & Overactive Bladder Foundation: Patient advocacy and education foundation focused on cystitis and bladder disorders; similar awareness, education, and clinician-engagement model in the same clinical niche.
• Chronic UTI Info Centre (CUTIC UK): UK-based patient information and advocacy platform for chronic UTI; APUR alliance co-founder with content, community, and clinician-education functions closely aligned with Live UTI Free's offerings.
• Chronic UTI Australia: Australian patient advocacy organization for chronic and recurrent UTI; co-founder of the APUR alliance alongside Live UTI Free, with directly overlapping mission, patient community, and research-recruitment activities.
• Bladder Health UK: UK charity providing information and support for people with chronic bladder conditions including recurrent UTI; directly comparable advocacy and patient-education model.
• Interstitial Cystitis Association: Long-standing US patient advocacy organization serving people with chronic bladder conditions including recurrent UTI; comparable patient-education, research-advocacy, and community-support model.
• Pelvic Pain Support Network: Patient information and peer-support network for people with chronic pelvic pain conditions, many of whom overlap with recurrent UTI sufferers; comparable community-led patient-advocacy model.
• Interstitial Cystitis Network: Patient education and online community for chronic bladder pain and related urinary conditions; overlaps Live UTI Free's content-library, community, and clinician-referral functions.

Broad incumbents

• Healthline: Large-scale consumer health information publisher with deep women's health content and SEO reach; represents the broad incumbent competitor for organic content traffic and patient mindshare.

Emerging players

• Maven Clinic: Digital women's health platform with a focus on community, virtual care, and clinical content; illustrates the scaled, venture-backed version of a women's-health community platform that Live UTI Free could conceivably evolve toward.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/liveutifree
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@LiveUTIFree
• Facebookfacebook.com/liveUTIfree
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/live-uti-free
• Instagraminstagram.com/liveutifree
• TikToktiktok.com/@liveutifree

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Live UTI Free