Inbentus' meteoric trajectory: the largest crowfunding in the history of the region

The company manufactures respirators and is driven by experienced Murcian entrepreneurs.

Murcia-based Inbentus is having a meteoric trajectory, driven by the coronavirus pandemic. The Santiago and Zaraíche-based company, which was founded last July, is dedicated to the manufacture of healthcare technology, and is having resounding success with its SAV-19, an automatic mechanical ventilation device (the well-known respirators that have been in such demand in ICUs across the country). This one hundred percent Murcian proposal is quickly attracting the attention of investors, and, in its first market launch in search of capital, it has managed to raise 500,000 euros on the well-known international crowdfunding platform Crowdcube, making it the largest operation of this type among companies in the Region, and one of the largest financing rounds for a company from this land, only surpassed by the rounds of Odilo, Obuu y Nido RoboticsThe SAV-19 meets the requirements established by the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Health Products, offering a chance of survival to people infected with Covid-19 who do not have access to invasive ventilation techniques or types of ventilation. A clinical response and a scalable and necessary alternative to a global health crisis.

A HIGHLY CONTRASTED TEAM. With only a few months of life, Inbentus is just a 'baby', but the truth is that it has more than solid foundations to take its first steps. In fact, it has four top-level founders in the Region: engineers Rafael Valverde (CEO), and Antonio Alarcón; Juan Andrés Romero (CSO, strategy director), co-founder and CEO who has led the construction engineering firm Clerhp to be one of the fastest-growing companies in Murcia, listed on alternative markets and with a colossal expansion in Latam; José Ramón García (CFO, chief financial officer), director of Comarca Food Groupthe Lorca-based food group that has grown rapidly in recent years (with a turnover of over 300 M€). The three founders also have Dr. Mariano Martínez Fresneda, head of the ICU of the Reina Sofía hospital, as medical advisor and responsible for the medical validation of the equipment. Martínez Fresneda collaborates with the project by appointment of the Murcian Health Service.

From left to right, Rafael Valverde, Antonio Alarcón, Juan Andrés Romero and José Ramón García.

GROWTH SKYROCKETED. Inberntus took its first steps in March last year, as reported by Murciadiarioand has had a sudden impact. The company says it is now ready to market the first ventilators and is in the development phase of new devices for ICUs.

The Murcian company was created as a shock response to the emergencies of covid-19, although the company's plans are more long-term, in fact, they point out that respiratory pathologies (to which the Inbentus SAV-19 responds) will require this machinery over the next 20 years. "By 2027, more than €12 billion is expected to be spent on respiratory medical technology, which has sustained a 16% annual growth rate.

"To meet this strong demand, we plan to start developing a new and improved high-performance ventilator that is more cost-effective with the aim of achieving high penetration in Latin America and Africa in the coming years. Hospitals in public and private healthcare networks are our main targets for revenue," the company says.

RAISING INVESTMENT. To finance their operations, the company's founders have opted for an interesting but so far not very widespread method in the Region: crowdfunding, and they have done so with spectacular results. The heads of the company opted for one of the best known platforms: Crowdcube, and the response from investors has not been long in coming: if Inbentus started with the goal of obtaining 200,000 € from the investment community, it has exceeded this amount by 2.5 times, achieving more than 510,000 € . In total, more than half a thousand small investors have contributed to this capital increase.

The money raised in this capital increase, added to the economic support that Inbentus is receiving from regional entities such as the Regional Ministry of Enterprise, Industry and Spokesperson's Office, and the Infowill be used to finalize the company's star project, a second ventilator model with which it hopes to obtain a prominent position in international markets. In this way, the funds will be used to boost sales and complete the authorization of the existing ventilator, launch local campaigns in the target countries and develop the new high-performance ventilator product.

BIG PLANS. Inbentus is about to commercialize its first devices. The Murcian company has an international vocation, and already has open commercial relations with Morocco, Colombia, Panama and Ecuador . In addition, it is in talks with the FDA (the U.S. government agency responsible for regulating food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, biological products and blood derivatives) to obtain approval and start marketing in that country.

The company already has the capacity to produce 100 units of the ventilator per week and wants to scale its growth according to the increase in demand. The company even has plans to enter the alternative market (BME Growth) in four or five years, something that Juan Andrés Romero, from Mazarrón, has already achieved with Clerhp.

Reference: El Murciano