16 Sep 2020
London, 16 September 2020 – Medtech innovators and developers are invited to share experiences with people who have built successful medtech businesses and those that have invested in them. The second Longitude Prize Sprint workshop will be on 30 September 2020.
The interactive webinar will explore what medtech companies need to do to attract investors including venture capitalist and philanthropic organisations.
The Longitude Prize Sprint series aims to accelerate the development of rapid diagnostic tests to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), through improved knowledge of regulatory approval pathways, a greater understanding of funding and investments and better manufacturing and distribution of innovative products.
The new, virtual workshop is the second in a series of free seminars for medtech developers from innovation foundation Nesta Challenges, home of the Longitude Prize. The Longitude Prize is a £10m prize fund that will reward a team of researchers that develops a rapid point-of-care diagnostic test that will help conserve antibiotics for generations to come.
Ruth Neale, Longitude Prize Project Manager, Nesta Challenges said:
“The Longitude Prize launched in 2014 to drive forward the development of rapid, accurate, point-of-care diagnostic tests to slow the rise of antimicrobial resistance through improved antibiotic stewardship. In six years, medtech innovators across the world – from Britain to the US, India to Israel, Sweden to Canada – have made great strides in advancing new diagnostics. One of the greatest barriers these developers face is securing reliable, sustainable investment – often when they need it most. The Longitude Prize Sprint workshop will help attendees understand what investors are looking for and learn from colleagues who have found success with their own medtech startups”.
Dr Satya Dash, Member, Board of Directors, NCL- Venture Center, Pune, India, who will be moderating the workshop said:
“Medtech product development is inherently risky. It requires long gestation periods with significant inputs of capital to build and scale a medtech product. Funding is the oxygen, a critical component that drives product development during the long gestation period. Medtech startups and SMEs need to deploy a range of strategies to secure funding from multiple sources – government, philanthropic, bank loans and venture capital. After the success of the inaugural Longitude Prize Sprint last month, this virtual workshop will provide valuable insight for diagnostic developers in markets around the world.”
Speakers include Dr Chandrasekhar Nair, Co-founder, Bigtec/Molbio (India). Dr Nair will speak about his personal journey in building BigTec/Molbio; how he gained the investment that he needed and the keys to the success of a highly challenging product development process. Other speakers include Colin Denver, CEO, SpeeDx (Australia), Dr Abel Ureta-Vidal, serial entrepreneur, and founder of Eagle Genomics (UK), Dr Julie Rosser, founder, PreGenerate (Austria), Radha Kizhanattam, Partner, Unitus Ventures, India, and David Gill, Managing Director, St John’s Innovation Centre (UK).
The technical webinars are open to any individual, business or organisation working to develop new diagnostic tests in the field of AMR. Following each of the webinars, Longitude Prize competitors will gain exclusive access to additional expert support, with sessions tailored to their needs.
The free Longitude Prize Sprint Building Medtech Companies: Learn how to attract investment to fund product development and scale your company workshop takes place on 30 September 2020 at:
Register and attend for free at longitudeprize.challenges.org/longitude-prize-sprint/
Congratulations to the winners of the Longitude Prize on AMR, Sysmex Astrego!
