Aridhia names Roche chief and targets funding

Chris Roche, above, succeeds David Sibbald as chief executive

The firm, whose software is used by doctors and clinicians to manage the treatment of chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes, said Chris Roche would be taking up the role of chief executive.

He succeeds David Sibbald, the software entrepreneur and philanthropist who co-founded the Edinburgh and Glasgow-based company in 2007 and now becomes its executive chairman.

Roche joined Aridhia a year ago as chief commercial officer and is credited with bringing a more commercial focus to the business as it shifts from traditional licensing of software to a central cloud-based delivery model. The firm recently announced it was partnering fellow Scottish health technology pioneer Craneware to target the US market.

Roche, who prior to joining Aridhia worked for global IT company EMC for 14 years, said: “My focus is now to accelerate our own business model by opening international hubs and building specific disease-focused solutions with our clinical partners.

“There are some important partnerships coming up that David can now focus on while I can look at the day-to-day running of the business.”

In 2013, venture capital groups Albion Ventures and Scottish Equity Partners injected a “sizeable seven-figure sum” into the firm, which employs about 60 people, and Roche said it was likely the group would go for another round of funding, without being drawn on the scale or precise timeframe.

“We have proved that we can get the technology to market,” he said. “The next round of funding is about how you can scale the business out. We are looking to accelerate the business moving into next year.”

Sibbald added: “Chris is a proven leader with a deep understanding of data science, business vision and the ability to bring people together. His ability to rapidly scale data businesses and corporate experience is precisely what Aridhia needs.”