Perth startup chasing clicks for funding

Perth company OncoRes Medical is in the midst of an unusual fundraising campaign, the success of which is tied to the number of clicks on one of its videos on social media (click through to see the video here).

The medical device company has developed an imaging probe tool it says will assist surgeons effectively identify and remove tumours during breast cancer surgery.

While 30 per cent of Australian women who have lumpectomies return to surgery within two weeks, the company said its imaging probe would help surgeons identify if a tumour had been missed, ultimately reducing the number of repeat surgeries.

In June, OncoRes was voted top company at the 2019 MedTech Innovator Accelerator conference in San Francisco for the best value proposition for improving patient care.

It has since made it to the next round of the program from a field of more than 800 global applicants – 43 of which have been chosen to enter a one-minute video promoting their innovation.

OncoRes needs to trend in the top four or five videos in the competition to be in the running for $US350,000 in funding and for top spot at the MedTech Conference to be held in two weeks in Boston.

The winner would also gain high exposure to global investors and partners, which OncoRes said was needed to help get the technology into the hands of surgeons around the world.

Based at the Harry Perkins Institute of Technology in Nedlands, the company gained international recognition for its imaging tool, developed in Western Australia, when it won the Australian round of the international Pitch@Palace competition in Brisbane last year.

Managing director Katharine Giles and chief scientific officer Brendan Kennedy are both past 40under40 award winners.