Note to Members: In my January 4 advance notice to you, I said that this deal closes January 24. The closing date has since been moved back to February 7. However, since only 99 of our members are allowed to invest in this deal (under SEC rules, not ours, sorry!), we suggest you make your investment soon if you want a financial stake in this very special company.
Dear Startup Investor,
I am extremely excited to present our latest investment recommendation to you. You may read all about it below. It is also available to you in a special digital report we’re making available to all Startup Investor members. Just click here to access it.
This private company is set to revolutionize the $3 trillion healthcare industry. And you have a chance to become a “ground floor” partner and share in the profit potential with its founders.
The company is Reliant Immune Diagnostics. This Austin, Texas-based company is building a system with the potential to revolutionize the way we diagnose and treat common medical conditions.
Its technology will save consumers time and money. It will enable patients to bypass needless trips to the doctor’s office and streamline the processes of blood and lab work.
It will allow advanced diagnoses of a variety of conditions… all from your smartphone.
At its core, Reliant is a diagnostics company. It’s building a large suite of tools to diagnose everything from pregnancies to Zika, strep throat and STDs. And it has a plan to do it more accurately than the current medical standard.
Reliant has more than 37 tests in its pipeline today. This is a remarkable feat for such a young company.
The unique thing about Reliant is that it can do these things through an app. Consumers will be able to buy one of Reliant’s test kits – the KnoNow – at the store and then use it at home.
Reliant’s cloud computing environment will then finish analyzing the test results as they come in.
How It Works
Reliant’s initial set of products will use its branded KnoNow test kits.
There’s nothing special about the initial test units themselves (more advanced, proprietary kits are in development). What is special is Reliant’s technology that reads the test results. The technology at use here is called chromatography.
A typical pregnancy test uses chromatography to determine whether or not a woman is pregnant. The kit has a special compound that reacts with a hormone found only in pregnant women, producing a color that indicates yes or no.
However, with Reliant’s advanced chromatography technology, you’ll get far more details. Instead of a simple yes or no answer, you’ll get an exact reading (example: three months and four days pregnant). Reliant will accomplish this by using consumers’ smartphones to get high-quality images of the test, then analyze them in its cloud environment. Over time, it will build up a large data set to improve these tests, which will likely prove quite valuable down the road.
Business Plans
The first part of its plan is to revolutionize the way we diagnose medical conditions. Starting with readily available test kits, the company will focus on making a user-friendly, highly accurate application to interpret results. Later, it will design and build its own kits using promising new technology it’s developing.
The second part involves partnering with “telemedicine” or “webmed” companies, which provide remote video doctor services. One such potential partner is Doctor On Demand. It and other “webmed” companies are active in all 50 states and have agreements with most major insurers. Copays for remote consultations are typically low, from $10 to $25.
After a diagnosis is made via Reliant’s testing kit, results will be sent to a licensed doctor. Users can connect with a doctor via video chat. And any necessary prescriptions can be delivered electronically to a pharmacy of choice. Reliant will then receive a “handoff” fee from webmed partners for connecting users.
The final aspect is utilizing a third-party delivery service (such as Postmates) to pick up and deliver prescriptions to customers.
It will be a far more seamless process than the current one, which involves waiting in a doctor’s office, possibly going to a separate clinic for lab work and then finally going to the pharmacy. On top of this, Reliant is developing what it thinks will be the most accurate diagnostic tests on the market.
To me, this sounds like the future of medicine.
FDA Approval Is Imminent
Reliant plans to submit its first batch of products to the FDA in March or April. Approval for these types of inventions typically takes 90 to 180 days.
For this initial batch, Reliant plans to submit the following test kits:
- Pregnancy
- Strep throat
- Flu
- Urinary tract infections.
The rest of Phase 1 will include tests for HPV and other STDs, H. pylori, vitamin D, calcium, glucose, HIV, and toxicology screens. Reliant has already sourced and integrated the first 10 test kits.
Phase 2 will then address identifying three common cold viruses, as well as allergies, hepatitis, Zika, the West Nile virus, thyroid hormones and chronic fatigue syndrome.
Phase 3 will cover inflammation, lupus, cancer-related pathogens (Streptococcus bovis), breast cancer markers and BRCA markers.
And Phase 4 will focus on further cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Reliant’s ID plans are ambitious and bold, and it’s assembled an excellent team to execute them.
A Brilliant, Ambitious Founder
Dr. Henry Legere is the founder and inventor behind Reliant. He is a successful entrepreneur who owns a number of allergy clinics. Henry got his MD from Columbia University and did his fellowship at Harvard, where he also served as a clinical instructor at Harvard Medical School.
Joining Dr. Legere on the executive team is Dr. Eric Schultz (formerly at the Duke Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) as the chief medical officer and Nathan J. Klatt as the chief financial officer. It’s a well-rounded team of professionals.
Legendary Advisor
Bradley Tusk is a strategic advisor to Reliant and will assist with regulatory and political issues. Mr. Tusk is a bit of a legend in this area. He’s extremely well-connected politically, having run Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s mayoral campaigns. Tusk is also a well-heeled investor in his own right. He invested in Uber’s legendary Series A round of financing… and Uber is now worth $65 billion.
Having a political and regulatory powerhouse like Bradley Tusk on board is certainly a positive signal.
I recommend reading a recent profile piece about him in Vanity Fair, titled “Meet Uber’s Political Genius.” Here’s the subhead from that article:
Bradley Tusk, the brains behind Uber’s New York City domination, is now the political muscle behind FanDuel – and the man who has been working to convince the New York State Legislature to legalize online fantasy sports wagering…
With an advisor like Tusk, navigating the regulatory hurdles in such a complex industry should be far easier than it otherwise would be. Reliant’s plans are ambitious, yet it’s put the right tools in place to overcome the challenges ahead.
The company also has a strong team of healthcare industry advisors from leading institutions. It’s certainly one of the most impressive advisory teams I’ve ever seen.
Distribution Plans Are Underway
Reliant plans to sell its test kits at drug, grocery and convenience stores. And early discussions with major pharmacy chains are already underway.
Eventually, it will also sell to doctor’s offices. But for now, it’s focused on the consumer side.
Beefy Margins and Diversified Revenue Streams
Dr. Legere and his team estimate that their cost for these testing kits will average around $4 a piece. And they plan to sell them to stores (wholesale) for $15.
These are very healthy margins, which should improve as the company scales.
There are many additional ways that Reliant intends to monetize its business. The data sets alone, for example, could be extremely valuable to researchers. Opportunities also exist to partner with pharmacies or to offer coupons, discounts and other added-value services.
Reliant is building a large multifaceted business in a huge market. Annual sales of pregnancy tests in the U.S. alone are roughly $500 million. And the larger “point of care” diagnostics market is worth $20 billion annually. Reliant has an excellent chance to capture a big chunk of it.
The Deepest Patent Moat I’ve Ever Seen
As you can probably guess, I’ve seen a lot of startup investment opportunities. Thousands, in fact, over the last half-decade.
Yet I’ve never come across a startup with such an ambitious intellectual property (IP) plan. Reliant has already filed 10 patents, and 82 more are in the works. These cover specific diagnostic tests, the software that powers its app and other unique aspects of its technology.
Use of Funds
Reliant will use the funds raised in this round of financing to…
- Expand the executive team
- Develop immunoassays
- Hire software engineers
- Add operations and support teams
- Perform marketing and PR tasks
- Manage ongoing FDA submission and IP efforts.
Closing Thoughts
This is the most exciting opportunity I’ve seen in a long time. It’s also at an earlier-stage round, which makes it a sweet spot in the venture capital world. The company is far more proven than a typical seed-stage startup, yet the valuation is still low enough that the potential returns are tremendous.
Round: Series seed
Valuation: $50 million
Company raising: Up to $5 million (“post-money” valuation = $55 million if it raises the full amount)
Raised so far: $2 million
Minimum investment: $10,000
Important: This deal closes February 7. We recommend acting ASAP to secure your spot. Funds need to be transferred by February 10. There are only 99 spots available in this round (due to SEC regulations).
HOW TO INVEST
This deal is being hosted on www.microventures.com, a licensed broker and dealer. We have worked with it on a number of recommendations over the last three years. And we know its senior leadership and supporting team. Andy and I have full faith in its ability to take great care of our members.
The first step (if you don’t have a MicroVentures’ account yet) is to go here: https://app.microventures.com/early-investing. Then simply click the green “Sign Up” button, and fill out the brief form.
Next, you’ll be contacted by a representative via phone or email who will guide you through the investment process and answer any questions you have.
If you do have an account, then you can go directly to MicroVentures’ Reliant page here: https://app.microventures.com/offerings/reliant-immune-diagnostics. Then click on the “INVEST NOW” box to begin the investment process.
We highly recommend you check out “The Fast-Track Guide to 100X Gains: How to Get Started in Startup Investing.” We’ve created this step-by-step guide to familiarize you with the entire process. Just click here to access this report.
If you run into problems at any point, please call our friends at MicroVentures directly.
MicroVentures support: 1.800.283.9903
Risks
This is a development-stage company. As with all startups, there are significant risks involved in investing in it. The company could fail to win approval for its tests or not be able to raise sufficient capital. And there is a chance the company could fail.
These shares are not liquid, meaning you cannot sell them easily. Expect to hold on to them for years. If there is a positive exit such as an IPO or acquisition, that could be five to 10 years down the road.
We are extremely bullish on Reliant, but these risks exist with all investments of this type. We recommend investing in at least 10 startups to have a properly diversified portfolio.
Good investing,
Adam Sharp
Startup Investor Portfolio
