Cicada Spotlight: Steve Burnell
Our Cicada Spotlights are a useful resource for gaining valuable insights and advice from key experts in deep tech sectors. In this edition, we are thrilled to share our conversation with Steve Burnell, an investor, advisor, and "entrepreneur at heart" in the health tech ecosystem, who is now an Executive Chair at Tenmile - a Tattarang owned health technology investment business. Steve has 30+ years of experience in growing and founding global innovative health tech businesses within various research and business areas.
In our conversation, Steve shares more about his passion for the intersection of technology with medicine and healthcare, and his key advice for health care entrepreneurs who are seeking funding.
"There remains a need for agile, evergreen capital...to not just seed a good idea but to support the sometimes long journey to patient impact and revenue, while connecting Australian companies to the international markets and capital they will require."
What’s been your involvement in the startup ecosystem?
For the past 20 years, mostly in the US, I've been running operating businesses and leading investments and M&A with a focus on oncology, digital health and diagnostics. I am an entrepreneur at heart, led and raised funding for my own software tech company and have invested in or acquired a lot of private and even public companies. As an Aussie recently returned home, I’m looking forward to re-familiarizing myself with and learning the Australian innovation ecosystem as I see such huge potential here driven by the education system, investments in STEM and government programs and tax support for startups.
What made you passionate about supporting and growing health tech businesses?
The intersection of technology with medicine and healthcare has so much opportunity. I have always been passionate about applying new technology to large unmet needs, whether they be social, like equitable, sustainable healthcare, or environmental, such as addressing biodiversity loss. For the past 10 years, a lot of my focus has been on integrating new technologies into healthcare delivery, companion diagnostics, digital health and clinical decision support systems, etc. There is a clear need for new health tech businesses to better understand how their products will fit into clinical workflows and practice but also how the system will pay for them given the increasing sustainability issue for healthcare costs.
What are some pressing problems in healthcare that need more innovators working on solutions?
In healthcare, which is where Tenmile is focused, there are of course areas that will be driven by truly new technology solutions, such as AI-driven diagnostics and gene editing/cellular engineering. However, there will exist huge opportunities for companies to innovate business models, apply current technologies seamlessly into clinical workflows, engage patients and consumers more equitably or effectively into research and care… and that is where I’d like to see more innovation.
What is your vision for Australia's current health care funding situation?
I think Tenmile represents something a little new and different in the funding environment available for health technology startups in Australia. We complement a lot of the programs that exist in government to support incubation and acceleration, but as an experienced team of life science and biotech investors who understand and are comfortable with the challenges of regulated healthcare and how long it can take to get technology through to approved products and patients. There remains a need for agile, evergreen capital such as ours to not just seed a good idea but to support the sometimes long journey to patient impact and revenue, while connecting Australian companies to the international markets and capital they will require.
What are 3 pieces of advice that you’ve found useful for health tech entrepreneurs seeking funding?
- Research and test your product’s market fit with real customers. It’s great to have a cool idea or technology, but if you haven’t tested it and don’t have a credible development/clinical plan, regulatory strategy, and revenue/business model then meaningful capital will be hard to find
- Address your competition openly and honestly; it's almost never realistic or wise to say there isn't anyone else competing in the same space.
- When seeking funding be sure to clearly articulate how you will use the funds, how far they will take you and what help you are seeking from partners/investors.
What are you currently reading, watching or listening to that you would recommend to the community?
I can’t shake a long-held habit of scanning esoteric news digests like End-Points and GenomeWeb; the cautionary tale of Theranos, captured in the book Bad Blood, has important lessons for all founders and boards, and I’ve started but not yet finished, The Code Breaker, on the discovery of CRISPR and Jennifer Doudna.
