“I was looking to do something with purpose and significance”
Yoel entered the medical field after 24 years of military service, with a passion to do something that had meaning. “I was lucky enough to start my way at two US based corporations specializing in heart valves, so I was exposed to the medical devices field and the challenges it faces – like development, regulation, clinical trials and commercialization.”
In 2016, Yoel decided to venture into his own path, and initially set out to understand the health challenges facing developing countries. “I met many people in the field, specifically infectious diseases, and focused on a microscope – that basic component of lab testing. I believed that it was possible to take a microscope and fold it up into a mobile device, and add all the other ‘experts’ and sample-taking elements, so that people could take samples anywhere, without any special training.”
“After we discussed the issue with many doctors, we decided to focus on blood count. This is the lab test that is most in demand by doctors, and it provides a wide range of diagnostic indicators for illnesses that affect the immune system, infections, anemia and more. Once doctors get the results, it becomes obvious to them how to proceed. But until we came along, it wasn’t possible to carry out this exam on-the-spot and from anywhere, outside of a clinic or lab.”
The company’s idea took several first-place prizes and accolades in contests, and in January 2019 it was invited to join the eHealth Ventures (EHV) tech incubator. “We hired a team, small at first, we raised funding in addition to the incubator’s, and hit the road running. We picked up some collaborations, and then Maccabi HMO, Merchavia Group and a Family Office decided to invest, in addition to private investors. We were awarded several grants from the Israel Innovation Authority, which greatly supported us all along.”
“One of the things I’m most proud of, is our diverse, talented and devoted team – which includes algorithmic, Software, artificial intelligence, bio-medical engineering experts, and biz-dev and marketing, with years of experience in marketing, business development, as well as global distribution and sales. Our team ranges from holders of Ph.D. degrees to researchers, young and brilliant engineers that joined our journey as young students and continued with us after getting their degrees, for which we are full of gratitude and appreciation.”
“In our second circle we have experienced partners who’ve been accompanying us since the beginning. Thanks to them, we are able to fast-track our progress. And we’re running fast – it’s been 3.5 years from our first investment and joining the incubator. Today we have a very complex technological system that has received CE regulatory approval, and we’re getting ready for production and distribution. We have already signed our first distribution agreement, and our next step is of submission to the FDA. In addition, we’re looking into new fields, such as veterinary medicine.”
“Along the way, luckily, we’ve met many good people who have helped us – the EHV incubator team, advisors, doctors, and an investor group that believes in us and supports us. Now we’re in the midst of a significant capital raising round, led by the Maccabi Fund and the EHV II Fund. Our goal is to reach investment funds and create strategic collaborations so that we can ramp up and move on to the next phase – commercialization of our current product and development of additional clinical applications.”
An automated microscope that folds up into a small box, takes a blood sample from a finger and gives blood test results based on sophisticated algorithms – this isn’t science fiction, but is actually the first product to be rolled out by the promising Israeli startup EfA.