Volpara likely to return value for EA Fund

Volpara a good pick for EA Fund 1, Bill Murphy says. Photo/File

Enterprise Angels EA Fund 1 investee Volpara Health Technologies made the finals of the New Zealand International Business Awards in the Best Emerging Business category.

Volpara was founded to reduce the mortality and cost of breast cancer by improving the quality of screening and helping radiologists give women the most accurate information possible regarding their breast health. Its wholly owned sales and marketing arm is Volpara Solutions.

EA Fund 1 invested NZ$100,000 in Volpara, then named Matakina Technology, in October 2014. The company listed on the ASX in April, raising about A$10 million (NZ$10.5 million).

The fund's 239,856 ordinary shares have a current value of about AUD$206,000 (NZ$$217,300), more than doubling the fund's initial investment. Ten per cent of the EA Fund shareholding is locked up until next April under the terms of the listing.

Enterprise Angels executive director Bill Murphy said Volpara came to the EA Fund through its capital market connections.

"It was an opportunity we were able to take advantage of, because at the fund level decisions can be made very quickly."

The judges at the awards, organised by New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, said Volpara was a great example of a New Zealand-based company that had the potential to address a significant and growing global health issue.

"They have adopted a very considered approach to global growth, and leveraged the skillsets in Wellington to build a new business."

In October, Volpara was named winner of Innovation in Health & Science, and highly commended for Innovation in Technology Solutions, at the New Zealand Innovation Awards 2016.

Earlier this month, Volpara and Microsoft Corporation announced a new collaboration in which Volpara will use Microsoft's Azure cloud platform to apply intelligent data analytics to the early detection of breast cancer. Volpara has just launched the next generation of its cloud-based breast imaging analytics platform, VolparaEnterprise 2.0, at the Radiological Society of North America's annual meeting in Chicago.

This month also saw the company raise $7 million in a discounted placement, with plans to raise a further $3.7m in an entitlement offer to shareholders.