epiCam

Dr. Craig RobertsonFounder and Managing Directorepipole ltd

epipole

Hillington – September 2014

A Tiger for Christmas- notes on gaining investment

Epipole are building a portable, inexpensive hand-held retinal camera which can take a very specific type of diagnostic image of the human retina.

Those images will be used to search for and track one of the worst complications of diabetes: diabetic retinopathy

epipole Mission

epipole

Why bother?Academic kudos

Fame

Money

Humanitarianreasons

Geek chic

A mix

Why are you doing this?

Clue: Only “a mix” is the correct answer. Doing anything for only one of these reasons will identify you as a uninvestable.

Europe:2000 - 33.3 million 2030 - 48.0 million

Asia and Australasia:2000 - 82.7 million 2030 - 190.5 million

Africa:2000 - 7.0 million 2030 - 18.2 million

Middle East:2000 - 15.2 million 2030 - 42.6 million

Americas:2000 - 33.0 million 2030 - 66.8 million

HumanitarianDisease profile

Sources: WHO Programme on Diabetes and Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute

epipole

Europe:$84Bn*

*2006

Asia and Australasia:$55Bn

Africa:$3.2Bn

Middle East:$30Bn

USA$110Bn2016 estimate

Money onlyMedical device market

Compiled from various online sources

epipole

Investor Adviceepipole● Try and find investors who “get it”

● If you are early stage, go for early stage investors

● Don't try and con investors, your family or yourself

● Spend money where it counts:

- feasibility study

- financial modeling

- business plan

- marketing strategy

- securing early IP

● Know when to speak up – clarify when required

● Know when to shut up

● Investment is more like a marriage than anyone is

willing to admit

Our startup timetableepipolePre-business Start writing business plan (Jan'11 – Jun'12)

Join Alba InnovationsPrepare first attempt at financials

March '12 Interviewing lawyers to find a good fitApply for Investor Ready funding

April '12 Apply for SMART Feasibility funding– race to find investor begins

May'12 Finding accountants

June'12 Inv1 [FAIL], Inv2 [timewaster]July'12 Inv3 [FAIL]August'12 Inv4 [FAIL]

New financial model (£££)

September'12 Inv'5 [FAIL], Inv'6 [Offer and rejected]

October'12 SMART DD startsInv 7 [SUCCESS]SMART DD finish [SUCCESS]

epipoleNovember '12 Investor DD startsDecember '12 Investor DD continues

January '13 Apply for VAT [rejected]Re-apply [accepted]

February '13 Sign off investment documents [3.5 months]Start SMART

Total time finding investment: 10 months

2 Solid years of work follows, no holidays, no weekends off - I work an average of 3000 hours per year – resulting in more than 50 full prototypes.

Second round funding kicked in March '14 but took significantly less time asit was based on track record as well as financial and business plans. DD ismuch easier second time around.

Our startup timetable

epipole Our Competitors

Standard-resolution imagery aroundthe OD [2.5µm pixels]Captured with one 20Cd flash andfully dilated pupil

Price: £30-40,000

epipoleHigh-resolution imageryaround the OD [5µm pixels]

[25x25 pixels per degree]

Single frame captured from video stream without dilation.Luminance source is <10% of the previous image.The heart-beat of the patient isalso evident in the larger vessels.

Price: < £1,500

Our Results[Exclusive!]

12 Things that are true but youwill probably refuse to believe

epipole1. If it's any good, yours is almost certainly not an original idea

2. You are probably not CEO material

3. You should spend a year planning your business

4. Even then, you probably aren't prepared enough

5. You almost certainly don't really have a grip on the financials

6. Investment costs money, time and effort

7. You will need at least one good lawyer and one good accountant

8. Investors are not your enemy, due diligence is good for you

9. There is a very high probability that your business will fail

10. IP should probably be your only long-term goal*

11. If you are credible the only thing standing between you and

investment is your (in)ability to pitch

12. The World probably doesn't need another web-based business

Putting Investment into IPepipole

Google is founded on a single piece of IP and holds 187 patents

Steve Jobs was named as inventor on 323 patents

Facebook has just bought another 100 patents taking them to 649

Think of your business as an IP generating machine and you won't go

far wrong.

Dr. Craig RobertsonFounder and Managing Director

epipole ltd

Tel: +44(0)77 909 30268Email:craig@epipole.comWeb: http://www.epipole.com

epipole

“If you've got time for Twitter, you ain't working hard enough”