INVENT 2025 Finalist: MemoryTell

Founders name: Corrina Grimes, Dr. Adolfo M. García and Fernando Johann

What was the “aha” moment that sparked your idea?

The “aha” moment came during conversations between Corrina and Adolfo as Senior Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health at the Global Brain Health Institute. Adolfo and Fernando were developing an AI algorithm, validated in research, that could detect subtle changes in speech linked to dementia. Corrina, with 25 years in the NHS and expertise in translating research into frontline services, immediately saw its potential to transform diagnosis pathways. Together, they recognised the opportunity to bridge cutting-edge science with clinical need.

Each founder also brought lived experience of dementia in their families. We understood the distress of delayed and inconsistent diagnosis — years of uncertainty, invasive and humiliating tests, and the reality that one in four patients wait over two years for a diagnosis, while one in three remain undiagnosed. This delay robs people of dignity, denies access to new treatments and trials, and places an enormous economic strain on families and health systems. Undiagnosed dementia triples the risk of A&E visits and can cost up to £80,500 per person annually in late-stage care. Globally, 57 million people were living with dementia in 2021, rising to 139 million by 2050, with costs escalating to $2.8 trillion by 2030.

We are solving the problem of late, costly, and inequitable dementia diagnosis. Current pathways are slow, subjective, and resource-heavy, leaving rural and underfunded services at a disadvantage. MemoryTell provides a fast, accurate, and scalable alternative that supports clinicians, saves costs, and offers families a dignified route to timely diagnosis and care. Whilst providing a solution for our health and social care systems.

What is your background?

Our leadership team combines clinical, scientific and entrepreneurial expertise, supported by leaders in regulation and research to ensure MemoryTell is scientifically validated, clinically credible and scalable.

Corrina Grimes – Clinician, Commissioner and Policy Maker with 25+ years’ NHS experience. Senior Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute (Trinity College Dublin & UCSF San Francisco). Carer and advocate for dementia, with expertise in public health, policy, dementia clinical research and in translating research into policy and practice to deliver real-world impact.

Adolfo García, Ph.D. – Internationally recognised neuroscientist with 200+ publications and global authority in speech biomarkers and brain health. Senior Atlantic Fellow at GBHI, with extensive international collaborations. Adolfo ensures MemoryTell is grounded in robust, peer-reviewed science and ongoing clinical validation.

Fernando Johann – Engineer and serial entrepreneur with two successful exits and venture capital experience. Brings expertise in scaling technology businesses to international markets, ensuring MemoryTell is scientifically sound and commercially viable.

They are supported by: Jenna McGarry, regulatory and quality consultant with 15+ years in medical device compliance and assurance; Niamh St John Lynch, specialist in medical device regulation, AI and risk management with CE Mark assessor experience; and Dr Sarah Cullum, Associate Professor in Psychological Medicine at the University of Auckland and consultant psychiatrist with 20+ years in dementia research and clinical care.

Together, the team combines lived experience, scientific leadership, regulatory rigour and entrepreneurial execution — uniquely positioning MemoryTell to transform dementia screening and diagnosis worldwide.

Tell us a bit about your solution

MemoryTell is a speech-based digital biomarker platform. Users complete short, guided speech tasks via a secure app. Our AI engine analyses linguistic, acoustic, and cognitive features in real time, providing clinicians with a diagnostic report in minutes.

The solution is:

Clinically grounded – built on 200+ peer-reviewed publications and ongoing multi-site clinical validation.

Non-invasive – no imaging, blood tests or invasive procedures.

Fast and efficient – reduces diagnostic time by up to 75%, freeing thousands of clinical days and cutting costs by millions.

Scalable – deployable in GP practices, hospitals, care homes or remotely via telehealth, including in low-resource or rural settings.

No hardware required – runs securely in a browser with no specialist equipment, downloads or training needed; onboarding takes minutes.

Multilingual – designed to work across multiple languages and cultural contexts, ensuring global reach and equity of access.

Interoperable – API/FHIR-ready, GDPR/HIPAA compliant, and fully compatible with existing clinical workflows.

Ethical and private – developed with strict data security, ISO-aligned quality standards and accessibility principles at its core.

Dignified – designed to be easy to use, unbiased and respectful for patients, avoiding the humiliation often associated with traditional cognitive tests.

MemoryTell offers health systems a validated, cost-effective and globally scalable solution to one of the greatest challenges in brain health, while giving families and patients the dignity of earlier, more accurate and more accessible dementia diagnosis.

What first impression do you want users to have when they experience/use your product?

Reassured by the simplicity of the test

Inspired by the opportunity to transform dementia diagnosis into a timely, dignified and scalable process

Confident the results are trustworthy, validated, and delivered with integrity and security

Where do you hope to be in five years?

In five years, we aim for MemoryTell to be a global standard for dementia diagnosis and monitoring, embedded across health systems in the UK, Europe, and beyond. We will have secured CE mark and FDA approval, enabling widespread clinical adoption. Our platform will be available in multiple languages, accessible in both high- and low-resource settings, and fully interoperable with digital health infrastructures.

By then, we expect MemoryTell to be used as routinely in primary care — empowering millions to receive earlier and more accurate diagnoses, reducing healthcare costs, and supporting research through richer real-world data.

Our vision is to deliver a timely, dignified, scalable and flexible solution that transforms dementia diagnosis worldwide, improves quality of life for patients and families, and supports governments, clinicians and researchers in tackling one of the greatest health challenges of our time.

What’s the best piece of feedback you’ve received so far?

Carers tell us that traditional pen-and-paper tests can feel humiliating and stressful, and welcome a dignified home-based alternative. Clinicians highlight the value of MemoryTell providing objective, unbiased data, with one stating it could “change the way we detect dementia — enabling more timely and accurate diagnosis.” Advocacy groups commend it for addressing a top priority: improving access to early, accurate dementia diagnosis. Health system leaders recognise its potential to reduce costs, free up capacity, and align with government strategies on dementia care.