Jo Barrow

Jo Barrow is an entrepreneur with a love of digital products that enhance people’s lives. Beginning her career as a journalist at BuzzFeed, Jo soon found her way into the tech start-up world, allowing her to develop a deep understanding of how technology can be used to change people’s behaviour.

She began to ask the question, could tech help people live happier, healthier and longer lives? The answer was Curb Health, a digital therapeutic platform aimed at improving people’s physical and mental health.

“90% of Britons have at least one habit that is harmful to their health,” explains Jo. “And the numbers are even worse in America, where 97% of the adult population have at least one harmful behaviour. This matters because even though we are living longer, we are not living longer in good health, which puts our healthcare systems under enormous pressure.”

The World Health Organization identified three key areas of concern: alcohol, diet and tobacco – but there are plenty of other ‘bad habits’ we could do with reducing. The Curb platform is designed to support individuals through moments of craving, using AI-powered technology to recognise patterns of behaviour and provide just-in-time adaptive interventions.

Jo is looking forward to the structured learning aspects of Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation Programme, especially around PR and business strategy and she hopes partnerships and collaborations will blossom from the experience.