TECHNOLOGIST · FOUNDER · HUMAN OPTIMIST
I’m Darren Crombie — a lifelong technologist, innovation leader and founder trying to make ambitious technology useful in the moments that matter.
Founder of Bridgit Care
Innovation leader · Speaker · Builder
01 / MY STORY
Not technology for its own sake. The useful kind — the kind that removes friction, opens a door or gives somebody a better day.
My career has taken me from global technology organisations to starting companies of my own. Along the way I have led innovation projects, worked with brilliant people across sectors and learnt that real progress rarely starts with the answer. It starts with a better question and the courage to keep going when the route is not obvious.
Today, most of my energy sits at the meeting point of AI, care and public services. It is complicated, important work — which is exactly why I enjoy it.
The documented version of this journey begins with 15 years in health technology and a community nurse team in Manchester. The personal version begins with my family. Both led to the same place.Read the independent profile
02 / THE JOURNEY
Accenture
I began my career in the technology world at Accenture. It taught me the craft behind complex delivery: how to listen, simplify, bring different people together and turn a bold idea into something that works in the real world.
DXC Technology
At DXC I moved deeper into innovation — leading projects, exploring emerging technology and helping teams move from possibility to practical change. The lesson that stayed with me: innovation only matters when somebody feels the benefit.
Founder
In 2017, sitting at the back of a health innovation event in Leeds, I decided it was time to stop thinking about starting a business and start. Upstream Health followed in early 2018 — and the founder chapter began.
Real places. Real people. Real change.03 / THE FOUNDER’S STORY
What if people could find the right support before life reached crisis point?
That question became Bridgit Care: technology designed around unpaid carers, local knowledge and the public services trying to help. The first spark was personal. My Grandad Doug had fallen at home and, without his alarm button, had to crawl to the door and shout for help. My mum Jacqueline was his primary carer. Their experience made the gap impossible to ignore.
The early Upstream idea was broad preventative care. In 2019 we made a deliberate pivot: stop adding to the catalogue of tools for clinicians and focus on the millions of family carers holding care together every day. That decision became Bridgit.
Across the ventures and programmes I have led, I have raised more than £1 million in innovation funding — including a documented SBRI Phase 2 award of nearly £700,000. I’m proud of the number, but prouder of what it represents: other people backing ideas with the potential to improve lives.
THE DOCUMENTED JOURNEY
These milestones are drawn from independent health innovation, government and sector sources — the public record behind the personal story.
2017
At a Yorkshire & Humber health innovation event in Leeds, I made the decision to leave employment and become a founder — with a young family, a big idea and no guarantee it would work.
Health Innovation Network2018
Upstream Health launched with a preventative-care mission: use technology to help patients and teams intervene earlier, before smaller problems become crises.
Health Innovation Network2019
The work changed direction. Instead of adding another tool for clinicians, we focused on family carers — inspired by Grandad Doug and the everyday care provided by my mum Jacqueline and my sister.
Meet the Innovator2020
An SBRI-supported NHS trial led to a Phase 2 grant of nearly £700,000, giving us the opportunity to grow the team and turn the early concept into a broader service.
AHSN impact report2022–23
Bridgit Care won an Innovate UK Inclusive Innovation Award for work helping more carers reach statutory assessments and essential local support earlier.
Innovate UK Business Connect2023–25
Dorset Council reported more than 3,000 carers using Bridgit within months of launch. Further public-sector deployments followed, including a county-wide Warwickshire service in 2025.
Dorset Council04 / WHAT I’M BUILDING NOW
Start with a real problem. Listen properly. Use technology to make good support easier to reach.
CARE · PUBLIC SERVICES · AI
Helping unpaid carers find practical, local support — while giving councils, NHS teams and carer organisations a better way to reach people earlier.
Visit the project 02HEALTHY AGEING · PREVENTION
A digital healthy-ageing platform created for the Open University’s Take Five to Age Well campaign, with contributions from Age UK and the Open University.
Visit the project 03FOUNDERS · COACHING · AI
The practical AI business support platform I wished I had while growing Bridgit — built to turn questions and challenges into clear next steps.
Visit the projectA DIFFERENT MIND’S EYE
I don’t form pictures in my mind. I think in ideas, connections, words and forward motion instead.
In many ways it helps keep me focused on what is in front of me. It also means faces do not always stick — so if I walk past without recognising you, please don’t take it personally. Say hello.
05 / AWAY FROM WORK
I’m husband to my amazing wife, Jules, and dad to Frankie and William. They are the home team, the honest feedback panel and some of my favourite adventure partners.
Above sea level: wild camping, hills, long walks and the reset that comes from carrying everything you need.
Below sea level: scuba diving — a completely different world, and one of the few places where being fully present is non-negotiable.
Closer to home: family time, live music and the occasional challenge that ends with a medal.
06 / IN THE PUBLIC RECORD
A selection of independent profiles, case studies, awards and speaking appearances. Useful if you want the evidence rather than the edited biography.
Health Innovation Network
Innovate UK Business Connect
Social Care Institute for Excellence
Dorset Council
Carers Trust
The Open University
07 / WATCH & LISTEN
Longer-form conversations about care, AI and turning possibility into something practical.
34 min
A deeper conversation about protecting the human heart of care while technology changes around it.
17 min
An overview of the AI work and ideas shaping the next chapter of my journey.
20 min
A closer look at the Any Guru coaching idea and the thinking behind the product.
08 / SAY HELLO
If you’re working on a human problem, exploring responsible AI or looking for a speaker who has built through the messy middle, I’d love to hear from you.
ANOTHER BUSINESS UNIT
Practical AI coaching for founders and growing businesses — created from the lessons, questions and hard-won experience of building Bridgit Care.
Visit any.guru