Dutch health technology company Landcent is on a €2 million crowdfunding drive on investment platforms FundedByMe and Symbid to bring the next generation of malaria prevention products and technologies to market.
It has already secured investment from the Gates Foundation and other tech investors including Shan Xiangshuang whose Hone Capital is one of Silicon Valley’s biggest funds.
WHY IT MATTERS
Landcent is seeking to engage private investors with an investment that will help prevent malaria and alleviate the €11 billion economic burden that Africa faces as a result of malaria.
The firm aims to provide investors with predicted returns on their investment in the run-up to Landcent’s IPO. It is offering a 16% stake in the company which will provide investors the potential for returns.
The company’s projections show that in the first five years of being on the market (from 2022-2026), its products could save approximately 608,000 lives. Over a decade this amounts to 2.1 million lives and 658 million cases.
THE LARGER TREND
This crowdfunding drive coincides with the successful completion of semi-field trials in Burkina Faso, West Africa, validated by the Institut De Recherche En Sciences De La Sante (IRSS).
Landcent is a specialist in three WHO recommended malaria prevention technologies: treated bednets, indoor residual spraying (IRS) and preventive antimalarial pills.
In 2022 when Landcent begins global distribution of its products, the combined malaria prevention market is estimated to be worth €2.10 billion and is expected to grow to €3.53 billion by 2030.
The health innovation company is also working on its future product pipeline, harnessing naturally occurring compounds to develop preventative technologies for infectious diseases of poverty such as tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
In partnership with King’s College London, research into the development of an antimalarial pill that could provide protection for 60 days, or an injection providing three months of protection, has also started.
ON THE RECORD
Arun Prabhu Stanley, co-founder and vice president of Landcent said: “This public investment round aims to unlock the final two years of our journey towards a new range of products that could disrupt the significant malaria prevention market. Initial product trials have been very successful and health ministries from Nigeria, Kenya and Liberia have expressed their gratitude for innovation in this area and keen anticipation for the solutions due to be rolled out in 2022.”
He continues: “COVID-19 is posing a fundamental threat to the progress against malaria and other infectious diseases, threatening a catastrophic rise in the number of deaths and infections. All of this reestablishes the importance of public health innovators like Landcent, who are committed to last mile delivery.”
