Is venture capital a necessity for start-ups?
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
For most new medtech companies, venture capital appears to be the most obvious way of garnering the necessary start-up funds to build a solid business. However, according to Dr Ian Cumming, CEO of Welsh start-up Ovasort, a company focused on developing high-volume cell separation technology, this is not always the best way to lever a start-up into financial growth. Ovasort itself is an example of a firm that has prospered without the crutch of venture capital. The company, located at Cardiff University's MediCentre for burgeoning medical and healthcare companies, is "a company without a product" according to Dr Cumming. Ovasort owns a patent for assisting with the process of discovering proteins on the surfaces of cells. The company is currently using this patent to develop a low-cost sperm separation kit for distinguishing between X- and Y-chromosome bearing cells for the artificial cattle insemination market and is also looking to diversify into the cancer research and diagnostics sector.