Bond Digital Health raises £1m for lateral flow test software

Welsh medtech company Bond Digital health has raised £1 million ($1.3 million) in additional funding for its data capture and management system for lateral flow tests (LFTs).

The Cardiff-based company said  it will use the new money to expand its headcount, including hiring a new customer service team, and adding to its sales, marketing and product development departments.

Bond was set up originally set up to develop digital tools for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), focusing on software to connect wearables and biosensors, but pivoted a few years ago to fill what it saw as a void in connectivity for LFTs.

This type of test has become part of everyday language of the public since the onset of COVID-19, but of course applies to a broad range of disciplines including pregnancy/fertility testing and companion diagnostics in healthcare.

Bond's Transform platform is able to capture millions of data points simultaneously and in real time and deliver reports to health professionals via an app or computer dashboard, allowing users to identify trends and hotpots and run reports.

The platform is currently powering three in-market rapid LFTs for COVID-19 in the UK, US and Canada.

LFTs have become a key part of the COVID-19 control strategy for many countries, including the UK, and the national Health Security Agency recently said it thinks they work as well against the worrying new Omicron variant as against Delta, the previously dominant strain.

Bond's current funding round closes at the end of January, with the company aiming to add a further £500,000 to the pot.

So far, it has raised £350,000 from the Development Bank of Wales, with the rest coming from members of Wealth Club, a high-net-worth investment service. Investors through Wealth Club include the company's chief executive Ian Smith, and its chair Wayne Harvey.

In 2020, Bond received almost £2 million in equity funding and more than £200,000 in UK and Welsh Government grants, which allowed it to bring Transform to market.

"Now that we have several international customers signed up to our platform, we need to make sure we successfully service their needs 24/7," said Smith in a statement.

"This funding will help us do that by ensuring we have the right people in the right roles."