Distility 1day1brand Alumni Receive Angel Funding to Support a Non-Invasive Treatment for Prostate Cancer
Profound Medical Inc. is revolutionizing the cure for prostate cancer with a new, non-invasive treatment. Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer among Canadian men, with over 25,000 new diagnoses each year. The current treatment involves an operation where surgeons cut open the patient and remove the prostate. Side effects often include incontinence and impotence.
The company’s new MRI techniques reduce both these side effects and the length of treatment. Medical professionals can view the prostate without cutting into the skin. The procedure is done in an outpatient setting, where the patient can stand and walk out shortly after treatment.
Profound Medical is commercializing their technology and had received strong feedback from potential investors. However, they needed to refine their message to stand apart from other technology start-ups competing for funding.
“We had registered for Distility 1day1brand because we wanted to better describe how we’re different from our competitors,” says Paul Chipperton, CEO of Profound Medical. “I had been using three PowerPoint slides to describe what we do and knew we needed a more concise message.”
During Distility 1day1brand, each member of the Profound Medical team had the opportunity to tell his or her own story about the brand. They worked collectively throughout the day to explore and commit to their brand personality, position and promise.
By the end of the day, Profound Medical had a new message to take to potential partners.
“The process allowed me to crystallize, in four words, the value proposition I’d been trying to say in less than three sentences,” says Chipperton.
The team left the workshop prepared to go into the next phase of commercializing their product and building partnerships.
One month after the workshop, Profound Medical pulled ahead of 199 competitors to win two categories at the TiEQuest-2010 Business Venture Competition. They received the Ontario Centres of Excellence Award for the Best Intellectual Property and the Best-in-Class award for Healthcare and Life Sciences. The Best-in-Class award included an “expression-of-interest” for up to $1,000,000 from the Health Technology Exchange.
Profound Medical also won the 2010 Ontario Premier’s Catalyst Award for Start-up Company with the Best Innovation. The award included a $200,000 commitment from the provincial government to further invest in developing the technology.
These investments will fund safety and feasibility trials in Canada and the United States.
To learn more about how Profound Medical is revolutionizing the treatment of prostate cancer, visit profoundmedical.com.