What was the motivation behind your business idea?
With my background in Physiology and Biophysics, I have always been impressed with the ability we have to understand disease and physiology down to a molecular level, use that to devise precise treatments and diagnose and identify the best course of treatment. However, at the end of all that, we are given some medication and the final mile of this journey relies on humans to administer the treatment properly (assuming we remember). It gets even harder to treat animals: there are many moving parts. I always thought there should be a way to leverage technology so that the treatment was done precisely every time. Essentially, removing the human from the job enables us to do this in a much more exact manner and opens up opportunities for optimizing treatments that wouldn’t be possible if a human were involved.
What stresses do you feel in being the founder of a start-up in the animal health space?
The main challenge we have is impatience. There is so much that our platform can enable, not just in companion animals to improve their health and well-being, but also in production animals, to lower labour inputs while improving productivity. We have an exciting roadmap, but we need to start at the start, and for us right now that is to focus on getting our first product commercialized. As a founder, I have had to learn patience and mindfulness so that we will get to all the exciting things, but we have a rational approach to get there.
At the moment, how do you measure success? What are your metrics?
Technically, we have been very clear about what our first product needs to achieve, and building the enabling technology has been very rewarding at each step of the development process. Progress from a benchtop demo to a fully wearable device has been done, and now we are in the final phase for the first commercial product. From a business perspective, the success has come from market validation, and having partners sign on to work with us has been a great measure of success. Our business model is to provide our technology platform for animal (and human) health companies to intelligently deliver their medications. Having multiple companies sign on for development together with us has been very validating.
What specific experience in prior roles gave you the confidence/ experience to roll the dice?
I co-founded an innovation consultancy and incubator over a decade ago, where we develop new technologies across many different technology domains and assessed literally thousands of market and tech landscapes. Previously, I worked in technology commercialization, spinning out startups from research institutes and universities around the world. When I first started developing the JetMeds technology I realized how big of an opportunity this is, not only economically, but to make a truly meaningful impact on the way we use medicine, for our pets, our livestock, and ultimately for us.
Do you like to be in a leadership role?
Yes, definitely. It allows me to understand and coordinate all the moving parts needed to make this enterprise work. Being in a leadership role allows me to focus on enabling this amazing team and our partners to do what they need, rather than working on only one aspect of it at a time myself. We are fortunate (by design) to have a truly great team and partners who are not only exceptionally talented technically but are also just fantastic people to work with.
How has the value of what your company offers evolved over time?
I think the pivotal shift for us was to move from doing it all to a Levi Strauss strategy. We don’t want to be an animal healthcare company, we want to partner our technology with great companies that have exceptional treatments, regulatory and marketing capabilities, and existing channels. We want to bring these companies the best way to administer their medications and treatments and improve the health and well-being of their customers in true partnership.
Have there been any pivot points in the company’s lifetime? What triggered these?
The key pivot was signing our first partnership, which has been amazing. They have provided us with the resources and support needed to cross the “valley of death” and get our technology platform built to a point where now it is on a clear path to commercial release. Prior to that, we had a great idea, some good IP, prototypes, and a demonstration of feasibility. However, partnering has allowed JetMeds to become a truly commercial enterprise now. The second real key point was the second partnership, which gave us the confidence that this will not just be a “one-hit-wonder” but actually develop into a platform that applies broadly across many different applications and markets.
Any moments where you thought it was all over? What happened next?
In the very beginning, there were several false starts. The fluidics technology we were developing initially was not right, the partners were not the right partners, our strategy was not aligned, and there were really limited resources for progression. There were periods when the project stalled out. However, we keep working on it until the convergence between the technology enablement and market traction started to occur, and now we are on a very clear path. It was all about having the right solution matched with the right stakeholders.
Talk us through the
...funding process
To date, only non-dilutive financing and in-kind, have allowed us to progress through the early stages and bridge the “valley of death”. Now we are in the process of raising a Series A round to support the GTM and will work with supply chain partners for working capital as we have inventory built toward the end of next year.
...Go to market strategy
The GTM strategy mirrors our development strategy, where JetMeds will provide the technology for our partners to fill with their treatments, package, and sell through their existing channels. Since our devices are connected, there is also an app for monitoring the device and providing subscriptions and additional purchases (think ink-jet printing for medication).
Our first product, for the delivery of flea and tick medication, is currently in GLP studies in support of regulatory approvals and we are developing our supply chain and manufacturing now. We expect regulatory approval next year and a product launch in Q1/2 of 2024.
Our second product, for the delivery of other APIs, is currently in development, and we expect to have rolling releases from ’24 onwards.
...Partnerships that have been fundamental
First and foremost with my co-founders and team. We really couldn’t have gotten anywhere without their dedication and talent.
Partnership with animal health companies: our first partner has been instrumental, as mentioned, in helping us with resources and “pull” to get the product through the development process. Second and subsequent partnerships are also key now for market traction and building out the broader platform strategy.
Best advice you got along the way
Focus on building the best product and getting it to market. Minimize distraction.
Advice to others wondering whether to take the leap and when not to
When you can’t stop scratching that itch. If it is something you truly think the world needs, and you literally can’t put it down, then take the leap. It might fail, and that’s OK, but it’s better than always thinking you could have tried.
What would you have done differently?
If we could have developed the enabling technology faster, that would be great. We did what we could with the resources we had, but if we could have gone faster and done more in the beginning, we would be further ahead. That said, when we tested the idea out initially, it seemed that the market was not ready for it yet, so perhaps the timing is right after all.
Looking to raise Money? How much?
We’re currently raising a $5M Series A round to support the GTM activities over the next year.
How will you use new funding? How would you use 10X funding money?
DFM, Supply chain, manufacturing setup for the hardware and build out of the software platform.
10X would allow us to accelerate the pipeline for other companion animal applications, moving to production animal opportunities, and ultimately human health.
Where you’d like to be in 5 years? How are you planning to get there?
In 5 years, I would like to see the ability to integrate efficacy sensing with drug delivery so that treatments can be truly optimized on the individual level. I would like to see pets being given the best treatments with the least amount of drugs necessary, production animals given the best care with lower labor inputs, and ultimately human applications to improve well-being by leveraging our technology.
