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‘We coordinated pregnancies’: The women who raised £5m for an online cancer treatment business – while starting families

Only 18% of businesses in the UK are led by women and although data suggests that female entrepreneurs are on the rise, men still receive more funding and are tasked with higher average loans to get started.

In an eight-part series every Tuesday, Money Blog reporter Jess Sharp speaks to women who are at the forefront of their respective fields, hearing their stories, struggles, and advice for those who want to follow in their footsteps and start a business.

This week, she spoke to Kelly McCabe, co-founder of the UK’s first virtual cancer clinic, Perci Health…

When Kelly and her co-founder Morgan Fitzsimons set up their business, they made an unusual decision: they sat down and planned when they would both have children.

It’s a topic that many men would never feel the need to discuss with their business partners, but as two women, it was something they really needed to think about.

“We had a long conversation and decided that we would have children at different times so that one person could stay in the business and the other could take the time they needed,” Kelly said.

“Of course you can’t plan this perfectly, but we were lucky that it happened this way.”

Morgan was the first to have her baby and returned to work after a few months off, and Kelly gave birth six months later.

A month after having her son, who is now almost two, Kelly returned to work and Perci Health has continued to grow ever since.

‘Whether in the NHS or private care, I saw the same problem’

Although Perci Health is a virtual care clinic, Kelly’s career had nothing to do with app development – she started out in the NHS.

One of the roles she played was helping people with cancer eat and drink while they were receiving treatment.

Working primarily with people with head and neck cancer, she helped them with tube feeding and their rehabilitation to return to solid food.

After working in a similar area in private healthcare, she realized that all cancer patients were facing the same problem.

“There was a universal experience at the end of treatment where you would have your final assessment with your oncology nurse or oncologist, and they would say ‘see you again in six or 12 months,'” Kelly said.

“Patients were coming back to our follow-up clinics with all sorts of issues they had been living with for six or 12 months, and no one was really managing them.

“They were just grinning and bearing it, thinking it was normal after having cancer.”

She decided to come up with an idea that would connect people living with cancer with professionals who could provide long-term support and optimize their well-being.

Male Investors in a Male-Biased Industry

With a plan in mind, she reached out to her friend Morgan, who had experience in digital marketing, and the two began working weekends and evenings to build their company.

When COVID hit, they made the decision to “go for it,” quit their jobs, and put all their focus back into the business.

The first round of funding came from family and friends, raising £500,000, which gave them enough to pay themselves a reduced salary and hire a small team.

But more funding was needed, and they began looking for investors.

With Kelly’s clinical background, the problem she was trying to solve in the healthcare industry seemed “obvious,” but the first hurdle she faced was convincing others that it was “important enough to solve.”

“The challenges seemed very obvious to us, but they might not necessarily be obvious to investors, and I think that’s particularly true if you’re solving a problem that affects women,” she said.

“The majority of investors are still male… and when you try to describe yourself as a technology company, unfortunately there is still a male bias in that industry.”

“I’m very sad to say that these are kind of old-fashioned things, like many of the things we sell on the golf course, during lunch or at shooting games, and we’re not invited to play golf or shoot.

“We don’t see a lot of women-owned tech companies, so that was a barrier.”

Pregnant, Throwing and Identifying Red Flags

When meeting potential investors, Kelly was pregnant and was “nervous” to explain her situation for fear it would scare them away from investing.

“When I had my first conversation with our current lead investor, I was 38 weeks pregnant, so we all spoke over Zoom,” she said.

“She called and said, ‘We’d like to invite you to meet the team and do a formal pitch. Can you do that next week?’ and, of course, I had to tell her I was pregnant.

“She could tell I was nervous about telling her… but she said she was sorry I had to explain myself and that we could just postpone the release.

“We pushed it back about six weeks, but not all investors are so understanding, which is why I was so nervous to explain.”

Unfortunately, Kelly said she was “definitely asked” in early rounds of fundraising if she planned to have children.

“Feedback from men’s investment clubs was that women don’t know how to feel and may not return to work after having a baby or their motivation to run a business may change,” she said.

“Initially we were just looking for investment and would have accepted any partner, but now these are the red flags we look for.

“There is some definite progress to be made.”

In total, Kelly raised £5 million and still owns 40% of Perci Health.

All challenges

In addition to the challenge of raising funds, Kelly also had to deal with life as a new mother, which brought its own challenges as a business owner.

She explained that having children early in the company’s life meant it was still “relatively fragile” and there was no chance of taking maternity leave knowing her job would be safe when she returned.

“There was a bit of juggling between that and having to get back to work very quickly after the baby was born, and the other challenge is caring for the child,” she said.

“You don’t want to take too much money out of your business and you’re rewarded with equity instead of a salary – but of course equity doesn’t pay for childcare.”

Kelly also found that there was an “underestimation” of her abilities by male investors, and this was something she noticed in the choice of language used to describe her.

“I believe women entrepreneurs are undervalued and this is evidenced by the fact that less investment is made in us, but there is research that shows that women-owned businesses are more profitable,” she said.

“The language they use is interesting. For example, I’m often described as a conservative CEO within the portfolio because I’m focused on financial preservation… but would my male counterpart be seen as such or would he be seen as someone with optimal control?”

Kelly’s advice

Kelly’s top tip is to find a business partner, possibly even two, who can help your business grow.

“Building a business alone would be significantly more difficult,” she said.

“Co-founders just help ease the burden when one of you needs a break, so find a good business partner.”

She also recommended dedicating “a lot of time” to building a “strong network,” which she said would help “protect you as your business grows.”

“There are a lot of women entrepreneurs or women’s business networks that are great. Morgan and I are members of a lot of them,” she added.

“It’s amazing how much free advice and support we’ve received from other women who just wanted to help.”

She said it was important to have “a really thick skin and be really persistent.”

“Even in the best businesses, you get those 100 no’s before you get that one yes,” she added.

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