Last checked at 26 Mar 2014 07:00
NetScientific Partners with Peter Thiel's Breakout Labs to Increase Support for Companies at the Forefront of Scientific Innovation
NetScientific plc (AIM:NSCI, 'NetScientific' or 'The Group'), the biomedical and healthcare technology investment group, is pleased to announce a strategic alliance with the San Francisco-based Breakout Labs, Peter Thiel's revolving philanthropic fund that supports early-stage companies working on technological breakthroughs.
Established by the Founder of Palantir and early investor behind PayPal and Facebook, Breakout Labs describe themselves: "Breakout Labs is not a typical foundation grant-we are a revolutionary, revolving funding model where successful projects fund the next generation of audacious scientific exploration."
Breakout Labs selects and supports companies at the forefront of deep scientific innovation, providing up to $350,000 toward specific milestones, as well as mentoring and access to resources. Under the terms of the new agreement, NetScientific will invest up to $250,000 in Breakout Labs portfolio companies that fit NetScientific's investment priorities in advanced medical technologies.
NetScientific's board comprises former executives from leading pharmaceutical and medical technology companies. NetScientific's Richard Sykes was chairman of GSK, (GlaxoSmithKline) and Barry Wilson was international president at Medtronic. Their core investment model involves the development and fast-tracking of companies based on transformative research funded by academic institutions, governments, and science foundations.
"Over the past two years Breakout Labs has proven new funding models that help advance research out of the lab and into the world at large are sorely needed," said Farad Azima, CEO of NetScientific. "This partnership provides NetScientific with access to some of the most revolutionary new technologies coming out of Silicon Valley and beyond. We're impressed by Breakout Lab's ability to identify and foster revolutionary life science companies and look forward to working with them to help support a new wave of scientific innovation."
The first Breakout Labs company to receive a NetScientific investment is Cytovale, a pioneer in a new class of diagnostics using biomarkers based on the mechanical properties of cells. Because diseases can dramatically alter cells' physical properties, Cytovale's diagnostic platform provides a high-throughput, low cost method of detecting disease.
"Commercialization of breakthroughs in the hard sciences has not kept pace with the digital space - to society's detriment. This is keenly felt in the health care and life science industries where innovative ideas far too often lack access to seed-stage capital," said Lindy Fishburne, co-founder and executive director of Breakout Labs. "Inspired by the way Yuri Milner's follow-on funding supported Y Combinator companies at a critical point in their development, we are excited to partner with an investor who has a similarly bold vision. NetScientific shares our passion for helping move scientific breakthroughs out of the lab and into the economy."
For further information, please contact:
Liberum (Nomad & Broker) Chris Bowman / Christopher Britton / Thomas Bective | Tel: 020 3100 2000 |
Bell Pottinger Daniel de Belder | Tel: 020 7861 3232 |
Company website:www.netscientific.net
ABOUT NETSCIENTIFIC
NetScientific is a healthcare and life sciences company with global reach that funds and develops technologies that offer transformative benefits to peoples' lives and society through improved diagnosis, prognosis and treatment . The group is primarily focused on identifying and developing cutting edge technologies with applications in several : (i) cardiovascular; (ii) liver; (iii) cancer; (iv) metabolic; and (v) digital health.
ABOUT BREAKOUT LABSBreakout Labs, a program of the Thiel Foundation, is reshaping the way early-stage science and technology companies are funded. Founded in November 2011, Breakout Labs has supported 16 companies in areas ranging from food science and biomedicine to clean energy. For many of these companies, Breakout Labs was the first external investor. Breakout Labs provides up to $350,000 for companies to achieve specific milestones that are critical to their development. In addition to funding, Breakout Labs companies benefit directly from a program of mentorship and networking, with access to the Thiel Foundation's large community of investors, innovators, and entrepreneurs. Successful grantees return a capped royalty stream and a small percentage of equity in their company to Breakout Labs and thereby contribute to the next generation of scientific innovation. For more information, www.BreakoutLabs.org.
ABOUT THIEL FOUNDATION
The Thiel Foundation, based in San Francisco, defends and promotes freedom in all its dimensions: political, personal, and economic. The Thiel Foundation supports innovative scientific research and new technologies that empower people to improve their lives, champions organizations and individuals who expose human rights abuses and authoritarianism in all its guises, and encourages the exploration of new ideas and new spaces where people can be less reliant on government and where freedom can flourish.