On December 30, 2014 Lightpoint Medical announced that they successfully raised £2 million ($3.1 million) in a Series A funding round featured on SyndicateRoom, an equity crowdfunding platform. The company is pleased with the results, having attracted some notable investors including Oxford Technology and business angel networks Cambridge Capital Group, London Business Angels, Envestors, SyndicateRoom, and Ruffena Capital.
Lightpoint Medical is a company that produces surgical imaging technology. They are currently working on two products (LightPath and EnLight) that will help surgeons detect cancer during surgery. Cancer is currently very difficult to detect during an operation, often leading to repeat procedures. Lightpoint Medical hopes to improve patient care with their new devices, which are currently being tested for stomach, prostate, and breast cancer. Dr David Tuch, CEO of Lightpoint Medical, said:
“We’re delighted to have secured funding from previous investors Oxford Technology as well as from some of the leading angel networks in the UK. This equity investment complements our substantial grant funding from FP7 and Innovate UK and our development contract with SBRI Healthcare. The funding will help bring our two lead products to market and more importantly transform the lives of cancer patients.”
These two products are currently expected to go to market in Europe and the US in 2015. Repeat investor Oxford Technology has had a great experience watching this project come together for Lightpoint Medical. Lucius Cary, Managing Director of Oxford Technology shared:
“Being an investor in Lightpoint has been a pleasure … From the initial investment, everything has gone better than expected. This happens only rarely. In Lightpoint’s case, the technology has worked. More grants have been received than initially hoped. It has been easy to attract new investors. Most importantly, surgeons have been enthusiastic about using the technology since it has the potential to dramatically improve outcomes for their patients.”
Lightpoint Medical announced a recent grant on November 17 for £250,000 from Innovate UK (formerly the Technology Strategy Board). It was provided under the SMART grant scheme, which “supports companies carrying out research and development in strategically important areas that could stimulate UK economic growth.” The investment team at SyndicateRoom also saw a lot of potential in this deal. Goncalo de Vasconcelos, CEO of SyndicateRoom, stated:
“Lightpoint Medical attracted an enormous amount of interest from SyndicateRoom investors due to both the investment opportunity and the quality of the management team. It came without a surprise that the funding round was completely oversubscribed.”
The platform SyndicateRoom has raised over £16 million since launching in March 2013. They offer investors access to highly vetted projects that are always backed by experienced investors at the same share price. According to the platform, the initial goal for Lightpoint medical was £500,000 but the campaign soon went into overfunding because of high demand.
