How one female CEO landed angel investments
“Marketplace Morning Report” continues their look at women reaching parity in the angel investing space. Today, host David Brancaccio speaks Rosina Samadani, a startup veteran and the recipient of multiple rounds of angel investments. She is currently the CEO of Oculogica, a medical device company that has created a new way to diagnose concussions with tech it calls EyeBox. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
David Brancaccio: Give us a taste of what your company tries to do.
Rosina Samadani: Our company is based on an eye tracking-based technology that was developed and founded by a neurosurgeon. The first indication that we’ve developed the technology for is to diagnose concussion. When somebody gets a concussion, something happens to their eye movements and their cranial nerves. We’re able to make a diagnosis of whether or not they have a concussion based on a very fine analysis of their eye movements. That’s the first indication that we’re going after. There are a number of other things that we can look at. Basically, the eyes are a window to how well the brain is working and functioning.
Brancaccio: Fascinating. We’ve been hearing about angel investors who take special interest in women-founded startups, young companies. That network is called Golden Seeds. Now you were able to tap in. But how did all that unfold?
Samadani: It’s an interesting story. Our founder, who actually happens to be my sister, Dr. Uzma Samadani, and she had discovered this technology, this relationship between eye movements and people who are concussed. She was giving a TEDMED talk, and one of the Golden Seeds investors was in the audience, and came up to her afterwards and said, “We would really love for you to come and talk with us about this technology and the company that you founded.” And so, you know, it was a really energetic and helpful relationship. Right from the beginning.
Brancaccio: You and your sister who founded the company, have expertise, you know, in the technical pieces of this, but was there also an exchange of knowledge about the whole investment ecosystem, like, could you learn from them, as well as accepting their money?
Samadani: Yes and we’ve got a technical background. I have a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering. My sister is a neurosurgeon, but I also spent seven years at McKinsey. So I do have a business background. I did not have an angel funding, VC funding knowledge and an investment, knowledge that Golden Seeds really educated us on.
David Brancaccio: Angel investors often hand over the money in return for getting a stake in the company they’re investing in. Some entrepreneurs are uncomfortable with giving up a piece of their darling firms. What are your thoughts on this trade off?
Samadani: If that investment is going to help you get to milestones that is going to increase your valuation, that’s something that you really need to consider. It would be wonderful to not have to take investment, but it’s not really a realistic pathway for many people and for many companies. The other thing is, is that they’re just another resource that we can reach out to when we’re hiring people, when we’re trying to make business relationships, when we need some expertise, some financial expertise. This is a very knowledgeable group of women that we have access to.
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