{"id":45301,"date":"2023-10-20T15:42:28","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/sydney-startup-atomo-backed-by-bill-gates-in-4-5-million-funding-round-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:42:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:42:28","slug":"sydney-startup-atomo-backed-by-bill-gates-in-4-5-million-funding-round-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/sydney-startup-atomo-backed-by-bill-gates-in-4-5-million-funding-round-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Sydney startup Atomo backed by Bill Gates in $4.5 million funding round – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/div>\n

Sydney-based biotech startup Atomo has closed a $4.5 million funding round led by a Bill Gates-backed health investment fund.<\/p>\n

Atomo offers technology-driven diagnostics devices and services that provide cheap and accurate tests for HIV, malaria and Ebola.<\/p>\n

The funding round was led by the Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF), with the joint venture between the Gates Foundation and JP Morgan taking an 8.4% stake in the Australian company.<\/p>\n

Other investors include a company associated with former Macquarie boss Allan Moss and billionaire property developer Lang Walker.<\/p>\n

The GHIF is a $US108 million social impact investment fund that supports the development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostics for diseases that specifically impact low-income populations.<\/p>\n

Bringing Gates on board<\/h3>\n

The investment follows a $7.8 million loan the GHIF provided the startup earlier this year, and Atomo CEO John Kelly says having the prominent group on board is a huge vote of confidence in the young biotech company.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt took all of last year to get the loan agreed and this is a follow-on from that,\u201d Kelly tells StartupSmart<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cGHIF was happy to put in equity but wanted to be part of larger funding round, so it was about getting additional shareholders to the table.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that they wanted to come on, to take a board seat and actively participate in the growth of the business is very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of the funding round, GHIF managing partner Curt LaBelle will be joining the Atomo board.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur fund is pleased to provide additional support to Atomo Diagnostics through this equity investment,\u201d LaBelle says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAtomo has developed a unique platform enabling quick, accurate and affordable point-of-care and consumer diagnostics.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese solutions reduce error rates and improve care and have significant commercial potential in both the developing world and in developed healthcare markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australia leading the way<\/h3>\n

It marks GHIF’s sixth investment and the second Australian biotech firm that the fund has backed.<\/p>\n

Kelly says this is proof that the local health tech sector is thriving.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re punching above our weight in terms of getting access to capital,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cAustralia is starting to really get recognised for its medtech and biotech research. The more companies that can transit research into a successful business the better. Australia can become a big player in this space.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Atomo is commercialising a range of easy-to-use rapid diagnostic devices globally, and Kelly says it\u2019s all about making things as simple as possible for users.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of the rapid tests around the world are delivered to users like a chemistry test,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to do it well and there\u2019s no real thought into usability. We took the chemistry diagnostics and packaged and repurposed them into a custom device design to allow the user to do the test.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe consumerised a lab product and made it a consumer product. There are a lot of things you can test on the platform and now it\u2019s about working on how to take the opportunities and what to prioritise.\u201d<\/p>\n

A focus on growth<\/h3>\n

The capital injection will be used to scale Atomo\u2019s business operations and manufacturing, with a focus on rolling out HIV testing diagnostics in Africa.<\/p>\n

With a base in Sydney, the funding will also be used for an expansion into the UK.<\/p>\n

Kelly says the startup began generating revenue in 2014 and has since grown by 3-5 times each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we keep that trajectory going forward we\u2019ll be doing pretty well,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not in an industry where we can develop an app and by lunchtime have 8 million users.<\/p>\n

\u201cClinical acceptance takes time and maybe to grow like that isn\u2019t as impressive for an IT startup but for a medtech it\u2019s a fairly material gradient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dealing with negative feedback<\/h3>\n

For other entrepreneurs, Kelly says it\u2019s crucial to not be disheartened by negative feedback and to follow your own gut.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, the Sydney founder approached a prominent member of the Australian startup community.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to one of Australia\u2019s leading entrepreneurs four years ago with a really good idea, a proof of concept and was looking to raise $2 million,\u201d Kelly says.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said I\u2019d never raise $2 million. Now we\u2019ve raised about $15 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experts don\u2019t necessarily know any more than you do. Some people would have come away from that meeting thinking that maybe it\u2019s a waste of time.<\/p>\n

Kelly says that it\u2019s crucial for entrepreneurs to take all feedback with a healthy dose of scepticism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you get some bad feedback that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean that what they said has any merit,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to take it with a pinch of salt. If they say it\u2019s going to be the next big thing you have to take that with a grain of salt too.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese things require time and effort and a lot of dedication, so you can\u2019t get disheartened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Follow StartupSmart on<\/em> Facebook,<\/em> Twitter, <\/em>LinkedIn <\/em>and <\/em>SoundCloud.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sydney-based biotech startup Atomo has closed a $4.5 million funding round led by a Bill Gates-backed health investment fund. Atomo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,22,18,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}