Launching an appointment management platform for carers: Aatish's entrepreneurship journey
Posted on behalf of: Careers and Entrepreneurship
Last updated: Monday, 23 February 2026
Aatish, founder of Varalign
By Joseph Bradfield, Sussex Innovation
A graduate of the University of Sussex venture creation year and participant in Sussex Innovation’s 2024-25 Momentum Incubator has launched a new platform designed to support carers looking after patients with complex medical needs.
Aatish was inspired to create Varalign, an appointment scheduling and reminder platform, after his experiences caring for an elderly relative whilst working for a high street optician during his university studies.
“Varalign began with my grandma in my mind,” he explains. “I found I was constantly acting as a go-between, reminding her of appointments and managing them on her behalf, since she was not tech-savvy and couldn’t understand English. From my job, it was clear to see others having the same issue of trying to manage appointments around other people, being busy with work or forgetting them altogether.”
It is estimated that missed hospital and GP appointments cost the NHS over £1.5bn annually due to a range of causes including forgetfulness, communication issues, difficulties cancelling, and practical barriers such as transport and caring responsibilities.
Varalign was designed by Aatish based on extensive market research and built in collaboration with fellow Momentum Incubator participant Olivier Hinds of Unified Projects. It syncs with calendar appointments and delivers customised alerts and reminders directly to patient, carer or both by WhatsApp, SMS, email or phone. Recognising the importance of protecting sensitive health information, it has been built from the ground up to ensure data privacy, confidentiality and industry-leading security.
“I created Varalign to help book and manage appointments on behalf of individuals to reduce stress, save time, and overcome language and accessibility barriers, just like my Grandma experienced,” says Aatish. “Varalign has one clear objective: Providing Ease, Simplifying Care.”
About the University of Sussex Venture Creation Year
The Venture Creation Year at the University of Sussex is an alternative to a paid placement year in industry, enabling students to explore self-employment and business creation.
During the year you’ll have the support of the University, with access to one-to-one coaching, specialist workshops, networking and mentor access, funding competitions and online resources.
The Venture Creation Year is open to University of Sussex Business School students in their 2nd year of study on an Undergraduate (Bachelor’s) degree (to undertake the Venture Creation Year in their 3rd year).
Learn more about the Venture Creation Year.
About Entrepreneurship at Sussex
Got a big idea for a better world? Or curious about learning new skills and exploring venture creation? We can help you get started with one-to-one support, startup workshops, and funding opportunities.
We can support you from the early stages of developing an idea for a business or social enterprise, all the way through to launching and scaling your venture.
We also provide workshops and services for those who simply want to gain skills that employers look for, like problem-solving, team-work, creative thinking and pitching ideas.
You can book a one-to-one appointment with a member of the Entrepreneurship team to meet online or face-to-face.
Further information: https://student.sussex.ac.uk/careers/entrepreneurship/