12 September 2008 - London, England.
Biotronics3D has conceived and developed a technical framework called 3DNet which enhances medical image analysis. The technology enables clinicians to manipulate CT and MRI scans in 3D. The technology also forms the core of other specialised products including virtual colonoscopy.
Why Biotronics3D?
Longbow Partner Edward Rudd explains what is special about Biotronics3D
Why Longbow?
Biotronics3D CEO Harry Hatzakis discusses the importance of venture capital for enterpreneurial companies.
What impressed you about Biotronics3D?
Prior to our investment, the company was operating with not enough resources and had received relatively little funding. Despite this they had developed world class products that were being sold in the US, UK and Japan. Customers and distributors were highly complimentary about the technology, products and support that they had received from Biotronics3D.
Why did Longbow choose to invest?
The demand for such products is set to grow rapidly over the next few years as radiology departments are under pressure to extract greater output from their expensive CT and MRI scanning equipment. By reducing as many as 10,000 images per scan to one 3D image diagnosis is made easier, more consistent and, importantly, faster. The founders have proven that they can turn complex technology into cost efficient, user friendly products, but without investment in sales and marketing Biotronics3D would not be able to achieve their potential in such a fast moving environment. Our investment enables the company to realise this potential and generate a healthy return for doing so.
What do you believe the outlook is for Biotronics3D?
The company recently agreed a collaboration with the institute of Cancer Research that was looking for a partner to commercialise their MRI oncology intellectual property. Work is already underway to integrate this with 3D Net to create a new product that can help diagnose breast cancer and I expect this collaboration will extend to other technologies and diseases (such as prostate cancer) in due course. Ultimately, I see Biotronics3D being purchased by a company that will benefit strategically from owning such 3D imaging expertise and products. This might be a hardware manufacturer or a software company.
Why Venture Capital, and why Longbow?
The modern health IT industry has in recent years been forced to become global, as a response to the flattening of the world economy. Emerging innovative companies will only succeed in the present economic environment if they fashion their strategies, their management and their operations in pursuit of a new goal: integration of research, development, production and value in the delivery of new products worldwide. The old monolithic multinational that created value in an old hierarchical fashion is dead, mainly because of the fundamental restrictions in delivering innovation in the modern economy. Not since the 19th century have our systems of innovation and production endured such large and fundamental changes to their architectures. These changes have provided a great opportunity for smaller companies with remarkable abilities, like Biotronics3D, to adapt to global market requirements rapidly. In Longbow Capital we found a dynamic company, with experience in working with smaller companies in the healthcare sector. We share the same vision of the way healthcare needs to be delivered in the 21st century and agree on the ever increasing role of global innovation in that market space. We also realised that Longbow will offer not only capital, but a strong support network for our company (through business support, introductions and advice) to further develop and implement a strategy that will increase our company value in the years to come.
What will the capital be used for?
The raised capital will be used to take on key personnel to help develop our sales and marketing departments. This will help us achieve a global reach via partnerships with other companies in the world market. Investing in Sales and Marketing will accelerate our brand and product penetration to the international market. This will be pivotal in
the implementation of our business plan. We anticipate the impact of this investment will lead to the further expansion of product line and eventually a portfolio of disease management IT products with an initial focus on breast and colon cancer.
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