Nanodropper’s beta launch!

• Beta launched June 26, 2020

  • The first 1,000 units (Nanodropper Adaptors) shipped ($14k+ in organic sales)

  • 11 eye clinic locations in the US actively using Nanodropper Adaptors

• Kaiser Permanente’s first order received, in the process of being approved as a vendor

Milestone achievements

• Air Force (AFWERX) SBIR Phase II contract awarded

  • Awarded Phase II contract, $650k for 15 months

    • Completed first milestone, submitting for second milestone in Oct 2020

    • Second size of Nanodropper in R&D: compatible w/ metric thread bottles

• HIPAA Compliance Certified

  • HIPAA: Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

  • Certification by Compliancy Group

    • Protecting our customers’ protected health information

• Filed PCT conversion to foreign national patents

  • European Patent Office (38 states, including all of EU)

  • 13 non-EPO countries: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore, Korea, Japan, China, India, Mexico, Malaysia, Nigeria

• $1m seed round

  • In due diligence with Alliance of Angels and Golden Seeds (Bay Area chapter)

  • On track to close by end of Oct 2020

• Other funding raised

  • Olmstead County CARES Act Grant: up to $25,000

Marketing and media highlight

• First run of PR campaign with DoD USAF SBIR

  • Reached over 25k people

  • Notably, was trending on Geekwire, featured on KING 5

• Our blog is now renamed “NanoNews”

  • 14k page views and 5,800 unique visitors on site this quarter, 580% increase from last year.

    • Please refer to our page for the complete list of blog posts.

• Follow us and our content on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter!

Clinical trials

• University of Colorado

  • Benchtop study with compatibility and viscosity testing

• Harborview Medical Center (UW Medicine)

  • Small-scale non-inferiority trial with glaucoma patients for preliminary/pilot data

• Brooke Army Medical Center/San Antonio Military Medical Center

  • Usability trial + non-inferiority trial with glaucoma patients

• Aravind Eye Care System (India)

  • Trial in healthy volunteers evaluating intraocular pressure and systemic side effects of glaucoma medication

  • Largest eye hospital in the world by patient volume

  • Full vertical integration with Aurolab, Aravind’s manufacturer

Team updates

• Additions to advisory board

  • Dr. Peter Daniels, M.D., & Dr. Jordan Stanley, M.D.

    • The duo are longtime friends and colleagues who are practicing ophthalmologists in the South and Southeast US. They brainstormed an idea similar to Nanodropper during their training years and found us when they revisited the idea years later. They’re thrilled that we have made their dreams come to life, and they are motivated by the same mission to improve patient outcomes while reducing medication waste in healthcare.

  • Dr. Alan Lee Robin, M.D.

    • Dr. Robin is a global key opinion leader in glaucoma, a co-founder of the American Glaucoma Society, a lifelong advocate of patients as an ophthalmologist, and one of the original researchers that investigated microdrop dosing at Alcon. His interview was featured in the original ProPublica article that inspired Nanodropper, and we couldn’t be more excited to have him as an advisor.

      • Read his full bio here —>

In Progress

• Potential collaborations with

  • Aerie Pharmaceuticals

  • Perfuse Therapeutics

  • UCSF Ophthalmology

• Intellectual Property

  • Trademark of “Nanodropper”

• VentureWell E-team Stage II Grant submission

  • $20k grant to fund non-inferiority trial at Harborview Eye Institute

Nanodropper’s beta-launch!

• We received the 15k units of Nanodropper Adaptors at our “fulfillment center” in MN last Thursday.

  • The first 341 units of Nanodropper Adaptor shipped ($5,100 in retail value)

  • 21 Clinic samples were shipped to private eye care clinics in the US

• Our second product, Nanodropper label stickers, have been highly requested and well received!

Milestone achievements

• US Utility Patent – Granted and Published!

  • Patent No. 10,695,216

    • Covers utility of reducing volume of liquid from a squeeze-type container

    • We were already cited as prior art against a similar application with a later filing date!

  • Patent continuation-in-part was filed

• Selected for Air Force (AFWERX) SBIR Phase II contract

  • Selected for Phase II contract, on-track to be awarded next week

    • Negotiated award for ~$700k to adapt our device for use in Air Force customer

• $1m seed round

  • We’re getting ready to close the round! There was a delay when COVID hit with our previous lead investor. We are working with a new investment group to negotiate the terms of the round.

• Other funding raised

  • $100k in bridge funding in the form of a SAFE agreement

  • $30k in grant funding from MN Department of Economic and Employment Development

  • $5k in grant funding from VentureWell Foundation

  • $1k in award funding from Social Ventures Partners Fast Pitch Competition

    • Please refer to the Awards page for a complete list of our achievements to date!

Media coverage highlight

• We are creating in-house content and started publishing educational blogs in April! Some of the covered content include:

  • Vision insurance and how coverage differences contribute to health inequities

  • 5 Common myths about cataracts

  • Feature spotlights on co-founders

  • And more! Please refer to our blog page for the complete list.

• We were featured in Plastics News online and in-print on their sister publication, Rubber & Plastics News

• The news of receiving the MN DEED grant was featured in Post Bulletin, a local Rochester news outlet

• Follow us and our content on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter!

Marketing and team updates

• New hires

  • Jennifer Steger, PhD

    • Our co-founder, Jenny, graduated from her PhD program in June and is joining us full-time as the Chief Scientific Officer. She will be managing our grants and clinical trials going forward!

  • Robert Spencer II

    • Marketing Manager, full-time

  • Alena Rainsberry

    • Account Manager, hourly

  • Kristi Hargiss

    • Digital content creator, hourly

In Progress

• Intellectual Property

  • PCT patent conversion

  • Trademark of “Nanodropper”

• Hospital Integrations

  • Kaiser Permanente Northern California glaucoma clinics

  • Seattle Children’s Hospital

Our COVID-19 response

• Our supply chain was minimally affected by the pandemic, with all of our CMs and vendors being classified as essential businesses in the US. Our launch date has been moved back one month to end of April due to the increase in demand for sterilization.

• Although we have enough funding left to make it to the next quarter, we are taking precautionary measures to extend our runway. We plan to submit apply for the following assistance:

  • SBA Economic Injury and Disaster Loan: Up to $2m if needed

    • Includes a $10k advance that does not have to be repaid

  • Paycheck Protection Program: Covers operational expenses for 8 weeks; does not have to be repaid

  • The Red Backpack Fund; $5k funding for women-owned businesses; does not have to be repaid

  With the current events, our patients need us now more than ever. To ensure the success of Nanodropper, we are focusing our resources on the launch of our product and minimizing all other spending.

Milestone achievements

• Air Force (AFWERX) SBIR Phase I contract completed with signed MOU

  • San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC) Ophthalmology will be our first US Air Force customer

    • We are working with Dr. Johnson, an ophthalmologist practicing at SAMMC

  • Applied for the Phase II contract (up to $1.25m in funding)

    • Contract awards will be announced at the end of April

• First 15k units being manufactured

  • Our first shipment date is scheduled for the last week of April. Production is progressing without major set-backs and we’re finalizing labels and packaging information.

• $2m seed round

  • Finished due diligence with Twin Cities Angels, our top choice for lead investor for this round

    • Minneapolis-based med-tech angel group

  • Thank you again to everyone who has expressed interest in participating in this round! We’ll be in contact for the necessary paperwork in the near future.

• Graduation from Jones + Foster Accelerator

  • Received the full $25k for the successful completion of milestones

• Marketing: We are contracted with MedSnake Media for B2B marketing efforts until June 1st, and have brought on a full-time marketing manager and a part-time content creator. We have identified a marketing firm for B2C efforts as well.

  • The B2C marketing firm and our in-house marketing manager’s start date has been pushed back until our funding is secured from either the SBIR Phase II or the seed round.

Media coverage highlight

• Allisa and Mackenzie were featured in Invention & Technology as one of the 50 women inventors and innovators highlighted in their Winter 2020 Issue

Competitions and grants

• Finalist of Social Venture Partners Fast Pitch 2020 cohort: Mackenzie will be pitching Nanodropper’s social impact at the now virtual competition.

  • Vote for us here!

• Entrepreneurs’ Organization Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards: Jenny represented us at the national level in the bay area in February!

• Semi-finalists of ASU Innovation Open: Allisa represented us at Arizona State University in January!

• Venturewell E-Team Phase I grant: Jenny and Allisa were awarded this $5k Phase I award with potential for follow-on grant funding of up to $25k

• Please refer to the Awards page for a complete list of our achievements to date!

In Progress

• DoD SBIR Phase II

• Distribution and inventory management systems

Milestone achievements

• Pre-orders opening next week for our customers who signed up previously, product launch is scheduled for Mid-March! Customers include 400+ individuals, 40 clinics, including Seattle Children’s Hospital.

  • First article inspections completed

    • We have product samples of all three components. Please let us know if you’d like us to send you a non-sterile sample.

  • Saved $45k in up-front cost, 45% reduction in per-unit COGs with new CM

    • We changed our packaging and sterilization partner to Pro-Tech Design and Manufacturing, a women-owned business in CA, TX, and MN.

• We were awarded a SBIR Phase I contract from the Air Force, a $50k award to meet with potential clinics and customers within the DoD. This opens the doors to the Phase II award, which matches the next financing round up to $1.5m.

• Opened seed equity round of $2m to support our marketing and sales push for the launch! We’ll send frequent email updates regarding this financing round.

  • We have converted to a Delaware C-corp with the new company name Nanodropper, Inc.

  • Our general legal counsel has changed from Egan/Nelson to Fenwick & West LLP

Media coverage highlight

• Allisa’s work with Nanodropper was featured on the front page of Mayo Clinic’s intranet site last month, with additional public posts on the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine site and Mayo Clinic’s social media pages!

  • Click here for the short clip on Mayo Clinic’s Instagram

  • Click here for the full-length video and article published by the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine

Competitions and grants

• Jones+Foster Accelerator: Graduation is coming up on Feb 5th! We’ll be receiving a $25k milestone achievement award upon completion of the accelerator.

• Collegiate Inventors Competition Silver Medalists: Mackenzie and Allisa brought home the silver medal in the Graduate Student division!

• Allisa’s work with Nanodropper was featured on the Mayo Clinic front page last month, with follow-up posts from the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and Mayo Clinic’s Instagram (click for video)

• Global Student Entrepreneurship Competition: Jenny brought home the grand prize at the regional competition in Seattle and will be representing us at the national level in the Bay Area in February.

• Semi-finalists of ASU Innovation Open: Allisa will be representing us at the end of January at Arizona State University.

• Accepted into Social Venture Partners Fast Pitch 2020 cohort: Mackenzie will be pitching Nanodropper’s social impact at Town Hall Seattle.

• Accepted into Life Science Washington Institute’s WIN mentoring program to begin after J+F accelerator .

• Please refer to the Awards page for a complete list of our achievements to date!

In Progress

• VentureWell E-team grant application

• Kitsap edg3 FUND competition application

Milestone achievements & media

• We have 327 individual patients and 26 clinics that have filled out a pre-sale interest form, equating to over $44k!

• We have raised a total of $303,700 to date, with $46k in non-dilutive funding pushing us over our goal of $250k!

• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation article: Drug companies won’t fix wasteful eye drops — so some students did

Competition achievements

• Sweet Sixteen at Dempsey Start-up Competition

• 2nd Place Award at Unite for Sight Innovation Prize

• Fast pitch Winner at Life Science Innovation NW

• Please refer to the Awards page for a complete list of our achievements to date!

In Progress

• Reviewing competing quotes for packaging cost

• Applying for Jones + Foster Accelerator Program

• DoD SBIR grant application

• Starting relationship with United Healthcare in MN

• Applying for Health Canada approval for sales in Canada

• End-product packaging design

• Grant search for clinical study with ophthalmologist at Harborview Medical Center

• Collegiate Inventors Competition application

• Kitsap edg3 FUND competition application

Milestone achievements

• Non-provisional utility patent for the Nanodropper adaptor has been filed with the USPTO and PCT offices. The Nanodropper is patent pending as of January 2018.

• We have raised a total of $203,700 to date, pushing us over the threshold to start the manufacturing process.

• The tooling for manufacturing will take 55 business days to be made, and sterilization validations are estimated to take another 2 months. We are projected to be ready for distribution by October 2019!

Competition achievements

• Grand Prize award at the Holloman Health Innovation Competition

• Grand Prize award at SEBA Student Technology Showcase

• Top 10 Finalist of 132 teams and Honorable Mention at Baylor New Venture Competition

• Best Medical Device Prize by M&M Consulting at the Holloman Health Innovation Competition

• National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps grantee

• Judge’s Choice Award at UW Business Case 60-Second Pitch Competition

• Please refer to the Awards page for a complete list of our achievements to date!

In Progress

• Second screening round for the popular TV show, Shark Tank

• Final revisions being made for tooling for manufacturing

• Meeting with Bartell Drugs for potential partnership

• Website redesign for pre-sales

• End-product packaging design

• Grant search for clinical study with ophthalmologist at Harborview Medical Center

Competitions in progress

• Presenting at Unite for Sight Global Health & Innovation Conference April 2019

• Applications being prepped:

  • 2019 Dempsey Startup Competition

  • NSF I-Corps continuation grant

  • LSINW

  • Minnesota Cup

  • Collegiate Inventors Competition

Thank you for joining us on our journey to increase access to sight-saving medication!

Please keep this page confidential, these updates are for internal use only

Milestone achievements

• The Nanodropper has been officially listed with the FDA, and we are cleared to sell in the United States!
  The device listing can be found at this link: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfRL/rl.cfm?lid=596319&lpcd=KYX
• We have added a recent UW Foster’s MBA graduate and CFA to our team, Robert.
  He is joining the Nanodropper with over 10 years of finance and business experience.

Competition achievements

• 2nd place prize at the Future Founders U.Pitch competition
• Audience Favorite Award at the Walleye tank competition
• additional prototype funding awarded from UW Buerk Center for 2019
• Accepted to compete in the 2019 UW Science & Technology Showcase January 24th
• Please refer to the Awards page for a complete list of our achievements in 2018!

In Progress

• Raising the remaining capital needed for manufacturing
• Conversion of provisional patent to non-provisional utility patent with a MN firm: Westman, Champlin & Koehler
• End-product packaging

• Grant search for clinical study with ophthalmologist at Harborview Medical Center

Competitions in progress

• Finalists (top 10) for the Baylor New Venture Competition 2019 February 21-23
  • Please let us know if you are able to attend!
• Final round of screening to present at Unite for Sight Global Health & Innovation Conference 2019
• Applications being prepped:
  • 2019 Rice University Business Plan Competition, the biggest student business competition!
  • 2019 Dempsey Startup Competition
  • 2019 Holloman Health Innovation Competition