• MobiCart

  Participated · Equity · Oct 2012

  MobiCart provides a platform for businesses to create and manage mobile commerce stores as native Android or iOS apps or as HTML5 web apps, which can operate standalone or tie into existing websites. The platform is supported by an ecosystem for third‑party extensions. Following a boardroom dispute and the founder’s departure, MobiCart has restructured under investment from Asian incubator Get2Volume and relocated operations to Singapore. Get2Volume’s Claire Mula and Geogy Zachariah will lead product execution and technology respectively, and the company says it has bolstered customer support. Financially, MobiCart had previously raised almost $1 million from the Finance for Business North East Proof of Concept Fund (managed by Northstar Ventures), the Yorkshire Association of Business Angels, and founder backing; terms of the new investment were not disclosed. MobiCart offers a fully hosted platform for companies to launch dedicated m-commerce stores as native iOS and/or Android apps or via HTML5. The service includes storefront builder tools sold as a monthly subscription (priced by needs such as number of items), and MobiCart can handle app-store submission. The platform can be used standalone or integrated with an existing website, e-commerce solution and inventory. The company says it has reached its 11,000th customer. MobiCart was launched in September 2010. The company announced additional funding to support product development and sales, and a board appointment to strengthen payments expertise. MobiCart provides a free service that enables users to build a native storefront for Apple iOS devices. The product is currently available for iPhone and iPod touch. The company plans to add iPad and Android support in July and will release an HTML5 web app version. Financially, MobiCart raised $500,000 in a seed funding round in March led by the UK’s Finance for Business North East Angel Fund and has now received a £100,000 investment from Stephen Lusty. Lusty joins the company as Chairman and runs a startup-focused investment vehicle; he previously served as Google’s European director of online sales and operations. The article does not disclose revenue or user metrics. MobiCart offers a free service that lets users build native storefronts for Apple's iOS. The company plans to expand support to Android within eight weeks and add BlackBerry and Windows Mobile later this year. It is introducing new app-builder features including a bar code scanner, virtual coupons, and loyalty schemes. MobiCart is developing its own platform and extension marketplace and is working on a web app version of its native app builder to reach a wider audience. The company secured a $500,000 seed funding round with participation from the UK's Finance for Business North East Angel Fund. CEO and founder Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine said the investment will help advance the company's vision for the future of mobile commerce.

• CamStent

  Participated · Seed · Sep 2011

  Camstent develops proprietary bacteria-phobic polymers formulated as coatings for catheters and other silicon/silastic in-body medical devices. Its CE‑marked Coated Foley catheter is approved for sale in the UK and EU and is being used in UK hospitals. The underlying polymer technology was first discovered at the University of Nottingham in 2012. The company is led by CTO and co‑founder Dr Dave Hampton and CEO Dr Paul Harper. Camstent plans to continue clinical evaluations, pursue regulatory milestones, and make key executive appointments. It also intends to double its manufacturing and lab space, increase production of its polymer‑coated Foley catheter, and apply its patented coating to additional in‑body devices to develop new products. Camstent raised £600K to support these activities. Camstent develops coatings that prevent attachment of bacteria, blood, and proteins to the surface of consumable medical devices. Its first product is the Camstent Foley Catheter, designed to help prevent catheter‑acquired urinary tract infections (CAUTI). The company intends to use the recent funding to bring that first product to market. Camstent is led by new COO Joe Byrne and operates from Cambridge, UK, with a recently opened manufacturing facility at Colworth Park in Bedfordshire. The catheter is expected to receive European regulatory approval in Q4 2016. Product shipments are planned to begin from the Colworth Park facility for trials and initial volume sales. CamStent is a Cambridge, UK-based early-stage company developing patented polymer coatings designed to resist bacterial growth on medical implants and devices. Its first application targets urinary catheters to prevent urinary tract infections, which the article states account for 40% of all hospital-acquired infections. Led by CEO Dave Hampton, CamStent intends to use recent funding to take its proprietary technologies through validation, experimental trials and regulatory submissions ahead of human clinical trials. Financially, the company has completed multiple financings: it closed a £500k funding round that was supplemented by a £250k non-dilutive grant from the Technology Strategy Board. Backers include new and existing London Business Angels, who committed £114k in the round, including an £18k follow-on by the LBA EIS Roundtable Syndicate Fund 2011. This funding round follows a £350k seed round completed in August 2011. CamStent Ltd is an emerging medical materials company developing a proprietary surface-coating platform to protect medical catheters from colonization by urinary-tract microorganisms. Its first product, developed at the University of Sheffield, demonstrated in a University of Brighton study a 90% reduction in live organisms adhering to exposed surfaces. The company says such a reduction is sufficient to interrupt the process underlying catheter-associated urinary tract infections, which account for up to 40% of hospital-acquired infections. CamStent plans to optimise the coating for licensing and clinical use and to build revenues through development and licensing of its platform, with the initial application coating urinary catheters. The company completed an oversubscribed £350K ($570K) seed round from a consortium of business angels to support product optimisation. Named investors include London Business Angels, The Yorkshire Association of Business Angels and the Cambridge investment community. Paul White and Richard Milne were appointed as non-executive directors to support growth through the next phase of development.

No current team members are available.