COVID-19 INNOVATION
MyShoperoo in Aliso Viejo has unveiled a weekly shopping service for residents of all 34 OC cities.
The 2-year old company operates a digital shopper service for area businesses, as an employee perk. Amid COVID-19, the company has added a consumer model available to individuals working from home, as well as businesses, apartment complexes, senior housing and more.
The company charges a $30 monthly subscription fee, plus the cost of groceries and goods provided without any further fees or markups.
MyShoperoo is partnering with independent grocery stores and local restaurants to provide essentials and items in high demand such as toilet paper and eggs—items that were difficult to track down through March.
“We are working on your behalf with these stores. We’re going directly to local mom-and-pop shops and purchasing the items you need without touching them,” said Chief Executive Krishna Vanka.
Customers can use the MyShoperoo app to browse and select items for purchase throughout the weekend, including items that might be difficult to find during a weekend trip to the grocery store during these times, said Vanka.
Businesses are asked to package orders and place them directly into vehicles curbside. MyShoperoo drivers wear protective gear and deliver the items in bags to the doorstep; orders are scheduled for drop-off throughout the week.
MyShoperoo received funds through the paycheck protection program from the Small Business Administration to continue its business.
Krishna said the company’s fundraising activities will likely resume in June.
OCBJ readers can get 50% off the first month of the service with the sign-up code OCBJ5, or get free delivery on their first order with code TRYUS.
LAUNCH
Irvine-based Ocutrx Vision Technologies LLC unveiled its suite of visualization technologies for surgical use on May 16.
The offerings include the company’s ORLenz augmented reality headset, in addition to a glasses-free 3D screen and virtual reality-powered microscope. The three visualization options are paired with cameras, robotic arms and software.
Once the complete system launches in a few years, the company will utilize artificial intelligence to create a database to improve future surgeries, said Chief Executive Michael Freeman.
The ORLenz is expected to launch at the end of 2021, while the complete surgical system will debut in 2023 following clinical trials that are starting now.
Meanwhile, Ocutrx plans to bring its consumer-facing Oculenz headset for patients with age-related macular degeneration to market in the first quarter of 2021. The launch was scheduled this year, but it got delayed due to the coronavirus and supply chain issues, said Freeman.
The Oculenz will track and alert physicians to physical changes in the patients’ eyes, preventing further vision loss, added Freeman.
Ocutrx has been self-funded by retinal surgeons and physicians thus far.
The company said it is looking to go public in the next year.
GreenTech California in Irvine has invented what it calls a Nanobubble Generator, which works in conjunction with a water purification system to produce clean water while significantly reducing chemical and energy costs.
Large water filtration plants typically use reverse osmosis to filter and produce clean water. For a 10-million-gallon-per-day reverse osmosis plant, it can cost up to $500,000 in chemicals and at least $100,000 in electricity per year.
With GreenTech’s system, which utilizes the movement of water to produce extremely tiny bubbles or nanobubbles and removes the need for chemicals, companies could save about $150,000 between chemical and energy costs.
GreenTech was co-founded by Chief Executive Steve Slingsby and Chief Technical Officer James Earthman, a UCI professor of materials science and biomedical engineering.
It is part of the Wayfinder incubator program at UCI Beall Applied Innovation.
The company is also working with another Wayfinder firm: Irvine’s BDP EnviroTech LLC that uses microorganisms to treat wastewater in an environmentally safe manner.
BDP EnviroTech and GreenTech aim to work together to provide a complete solution for water purification that is more cost efficient and environmentally sustainable.
Together, the two firms have been awarded $370,000 from the California State Water Resources Control Board to continue their cause.
ACQUISITION
Laguna Hills-based WiSilica Inc. has sold its suite of tracing software and products to Blockchain Holdings, a Vancouver-based publicly traded firm, for about $1.5 million.
The technology suite will be renamed TraceSafe Inc., and features a system that uses identification bracelets and software to administer and maintain quarantine procedures. It also offers real-time contact tracing.
TraceSafe was originally developed for maternity wards and senior citizen’s homes.
Since March, the Hong Kong government has been using the technology to track and enforce quarantine programs for foreign visitors and returning citizens.
Kuwait and an undisclosed southeast Asian country announced it would deploy pilot programs in May.
“As economies reopen and work resumes under the ‘new normal,’ we expect TraceSafe wearable health and safety technology will support safer communities and workplaces,” Dennis Kwan, chief technology officer of WiSilica, said in a statement.
Kwan is expected to join TraceSafe as chief executive, along with WiSilica’s product development team in India.
FINANCING
Aliso Viejo-based Tagnos Inc. said it closed an investment round on May 20.
The software maker for hospital operations raised about $3.5 million, sources tell the Business Journal.
Returning investors Benhamou Global Ventures LLC in Palo Alto, Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Zebra Ventures, and Morpheus Ventures in Sherman Oaks participated. Charlotte, N.C.-based Honeywell’s venture arm joined the round.
Tagnos develops software for improved workflow in hospitals. Its system uses tags, sensors, analytics and a database to track and display the location of patients and equipment.
Founder Neeraj Bhavani and President and Chief Operating Officer Sheila Minton said its system requires hardware installation, so it’s not something hospitals would likely implement amid COVID-19.
The company is, however, considering how its technology can be used to manage patient flow for future pandemics.
“We believe that pandemic preparedness will be top of mind for the foreseeable future,” Bhavani said. “Even if we can’t help during this crisis, we see [our system] as something hospitals will have more of an appetite to invest in.”
Bhavani came up with the idea for the software in 2005, after he lost track of his father in a hospital many years ago. The company launched in 2010 and counts Providence’s St. Joseph Hospital in Orange among its clients.
Cloudbreak Therapeutics Inc. in Irvine recently closed a $25 million round of financing.
The Series B round for the ophthalmic drug developer was led by Chinese venture firm V-Capital.
BOC International Holdings, owned by the Bank of China, Grand Pharmaceutical of Hong Kong and Shanghai-based Lumiere Capital participated.
With the new injection of capital, Cloudbreak plans a Phase III pivotal trial for its drug candidate CBT-001, which aims to treat surfer’s eye or pterygium, a chronic inflammatory disease that causes benign growths to appear on the white part of the eye.
The disease impacts less than 1% of people in the U.S. Prevalence rates for the disease are particularly high, however, among rural farmers. Areas in China see rates between 5% and 10% of the population, which is where Cloudbreak seeks to commercialize CBT-001.
Grand Pharmaceutical invested about $5.6 million for a 6.5% stake in the company. Separately, the publicly traded company also reached an exclusive licensing agreement for CBT-001, in which it will pay $10.5 million upfront and milestone payments, according to industry reports.
Chief Executive Jinsong Ni, Chief Operating Officer Van Dinh, and Chief Scientific Officer Rong Yang all have ties to Allergan. Between the three, the researchers share more than 50 years of experience.
