Tiny Air is a Scotland-based medtech company tackling one of healthcare’s most overlooked problems: the manual pre-cleaning of surgical instruments. At its core is founder Chris Helson, an engineer-turned-artist whose career spans industrial jet engines, experimental digital art, and award-winning invention.
Founded in Southwest Scotland, Tiny Air emerged from a Scottish Government–supported innovation challenge focused on improving infection control within NHS decontamination units. What began as exploratory design work quickly revealed a systemic issue around sterilisation. While sterilisation and disinfection are highly automated, pre-cleaning remains labour-intensive, inconsistent, and physically demanding. It relies on manual scrubbing at sinks, exposing staff to contaminated aerosols while consuming vast quantities of hot water and chemical detergents.
Chris joined the Techscaler programme, delivered by CodeBase, to pressure-test Tiny Air’s global relevance and refine its strategy for international scale. This is a case study cemented in understanding the real problem, building patiently, and scaling responsibly.
Tiny Air was born through close observation, and devoid of any assumption. Working alongside NHS clinicians and sterile services teams, Chris witnessed the reality of pre-cleaning first-hand. Instruments with complex geometries were being scrubbed manually, often unsuccessfully, under time pressure and physical strain. In one case, an instrument declared “clean” after ten minutes of manual work still contained embedded bone fragments when scanned.
These moments clarified the real issue. Manual processes were neither consistent nor verifiable, and existing systems were never designed to address pre-cleaning at scale. Tiny Air set out to replace the most failure-prone steps in the process, not by removing people entirely, but by allowing skilled staff to focus on inspection and judgement rather than physical labour. The effort led to a world-first automated system that rethinks surgical instrument cleaning from the ground up.
Before joining Techscaler, Tiny Air had proven technology but faced structural challenges typical of deep-tech hardware startups. Progress was constrained by long NHS procurement cycles, limited access to international medtech networks, and the difficulty of translating technical validation into commercial traction. As a fully bootstrapped company, every decision had to balance ambition with survival.
The team knew their solution worked. The harder question was how to position, fund, and scale it responsibly in global healthcare systems that move slowly by design. What they needed was not generic startup advice, but experienced guidance rooted in medtech realities and international strategy.
Chris joined the Techscaler Programme with a clear technical solution and an open strategic mindset. Early mentoring sessions, particularly ahead of the Singapore International Programme, created space to step back from product detail and reassess how Tiny Air was presenting itself to different audiences. Founder-led mentoring challenged assumptions, sharpened messaging, and highlighted the need for distinct narratives for investors, partners, and customers.
Crucially, the programme reinforced a principle Chris had followed instinctively for years: continually interrogating the problem itself. Rather than scaling prematurely, Techscaler encouraged Tiny Air to validate whether the issue they were solving existed globally, not just locally. That reframing set the foundation for confident international exploration.
Techscaler’s value for Tiny Air lay in precision rather than volume. Through targeted mentoring, Chris gained access to experienced operators who understood medtech commercialisation, exits, and global expansion. Structured support around pitch strategy, positioning, and long-term business architecture replaced years of fragmented effort.
The Singapore programme became a live testbed. On the ground, Chris validated that hospitals with world-class infrastructure still relied on manual pre-cleaning. Connections made through Techscaler, Scottish Development International, and GlobalScot opened doors to hospitals, regulators, and potential commercial partners. What began as market validation quickly evolved into early international pipeline development.
For Tiny Air, Techscaler was not an accelerator in the abstract rather it was a strategic reset, shifting the company from product-led progress to end-to-end business thinking.
Following the Techscaler International programme, Tiny Air entered a phase of tangible momentum. Its automated pre-cleaning system is now deployed within NHS settings, with Liverpool purchasing a second machine after initial adoption. Internationally, Singapore has emerged as a serious expansion pathway, with hospitals expressing strong interest and local representation in development.
The programme’s impact is visible in how the company now operates. Strategic partnerships are forming earlier. Market conversations are more focused. Decisions are guided by long-term scalability rather than short-term wins. While procurement cycles remain challenging, Tiny Air is no longer dependent on a single system or geography.
With growing inbound interest from the UK, Europe, and Asia, the company is preparing for wider deployment, balancing regulatory rigour with speed. What started as a design-led intervention is now becoming infrastructure for safer, cleaner, more sustainable healthcare systems.
For Chris, Techscaler delivered international exposure and the confidence to think globally while building deliberately. The programme reinforced the importance of understanding the real problem, conserving resources, and surrounding yourself with people who have scaled before.
Tiny Air’s journey is demonstrative of what happens when patient innovation is matched with targeted support. For founders considering Techscaler, the message is clear: this is not about speed for its own sake, but about building the right foundations to scale responsibly, internationally, and with impact.
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