The second time was the charm.
When the New Dominion Angels, a local venture capital club, heard a pitch from a Charlottesville clinical diagnostic startup in 2010, the investors passed. The price was a bit steep, and the angel investors didn’t know enough about the company or its staff — too big a risk.
Now the New Dominion Angels and two other Virginia venture capital groups have invested $450,000 to help Phthisis Diagnostics bring its innovation to market. New Dominion, which has members in Richmond and Northern Virginia who choose to invest in any or all of the deals that the group vets, invested about $180,000. Piedmont Angel Network and the Center for Innovative Technology chipped in the rest.
Phthisis Diagnostics makes a product that a clinical lab would use to process stool samples so they can be tested for various pathogens. The product removes the DNA from the sample.
“There are a couple of products on the market, but our product is faster and easier than anything out there,” said Crystal Icenhour, the president at Phthisis.
“Our main competitor has a process with 32 procedural steps, and it takes between an hour and an hour and a half. Ours takes less than 30 minutes.”
Icenhour said the company sold about 25 percent of its equity in the deal. The funds will be used for sales and marketing projects. The company had been running on grant money.
The company just hired a head of sales.
When Icenhour first pitched to the New Dominion Group, the price was steeper, said Mike McGinley, one of the founders at New Dominion Angels.
“The valuation was high, and there were lots of hurdles for FDA clearance,” McGinley said. “We felt it was too risky for us. And we didn’t have any good way to vet the winners from losers in the medical diagnostic space.”
McGinley said that Phthisis worked for a year with Piedmont Angel Network and that showed the investors that the company was open to change.“They had a different strategy and do not need to jump through FDA hoops. And [we saw] the flexibility of the leadership and that they’d be open to feedback,” McGinley said. “And the valuation came way down. It’s a smaller bet at a lower valuation.”
Icenhour said the company would probably have another round of fundraising in a year, after it has met some defined milestones.
This is the New Dominion Angels’ eight investment. In December, the group invested in a website that offers guidance for seniors preparing for a lifestyle shift.
Aaron Kremer is the BizSense editor. Please send news tips to [email protected].
The second time was the charm.
When the New Dominion Angels, a local venture capital club, heard a pitch from a Charlottesville clinical diagnostic startup in 2010, the investors passed. The price was a bit steep, and the angel investors didn’t know enough about the company or its staff — too big a risk.
Now the New Dominion Angels and two other Virginia venture capital groups have invested $450,000 to help Phthisis Diagnostics bring its innovation to market. New Dominion, which has members in Richmond and Northern Virginia who choose to invest in any or all of the deals that the group vets, invested about $180,000. Piedmont Angel Network and the Center for Innovative Technology chipped in the rest.
Phthisis Diagnostics makes a product that a clinical lab would use to process stool samples so they can be tested for various pathogens. The product removes the DNA from the sample.
“There are a couple of products on the market, but our product is faster and easier than anything out there,” said Crystal Icenhour, the president at Phthisis.
“Our main competitor has a process with 32 procedural steps, and it takes between an hour and an hour and a half. Ours takes less than 30 minutes.”
Icenhour said the company sold about 25 percent of its equity in the deal. The funds will be used for sales and marketing projects. The company had been running on grant money.
The company just hired a head of sales.
When Icenhour first pitched to the New Dominion Group, the price was steeper, said Mike McGinley, one of the founders at New Dominion Angels.
“The valuation was high, and there were lots of hurdles for FDA clearance,” McGinley said. “We felt it was too risky for us. And we didn’t have any good way to vet the winners from losers in the medical diagnostic space.”
McGinley said that Phthisis worked for a year with Piedmont Angel Network and that showed the investors that the company was open to change.“They had a different strategy and do not need to jump through FDA hoops. And [we saw] the flexibility of the leadership and that they’d be open to feedback,” McGinley said. “And the valuation came way down. It’s a smaller bet at a lower valuation.”
Icenhour said the company would probably have another round of fundraising in a year, after it has met some defined milestones.
This is the New Dominion Angels’ eight investment. In December, the group invested in a website that offers guidance for seniors preparing for a lifestyle shift.
Aaron Kremer is the BizSense editor. Please send news tips to [email protected].
Dear Aaron,
As usual, an Excellent story. Thanks for covering the Charlottesville Biotech Community!