Upfront Diagnostics

We’ve been catching up with our Angels@Essex alumni to find out how they found our platform, and to celebrate their successes.

We talked to Gonzalo Ladreda from Upfront Diagnostics. Stroke is one of the main causes of death worldwide with over 16 million cases per year. Upfront has developed a rapid blood test called LVO Direct to detect strokes. Their test can be performed in the ambulance, or the house of the patient, and it does not require any electronics or software.

Initial goals

Our business is based in Cambridge. We wanted to expand our network of investors and look beyond our locality. This led us to Essex, where we approached Angels@Essex.

Working with the team

The Angels@Essex team allowed us to put our pitch on their investment platform so we could showcase our business to a wider audience of investors. We also had the opportunity to pitch at their televised event with Brit Asia TV which helped us to grow our network even further. Through this event, we met more people and investors outside of our established network, giving us more visibility.

The process of joining the platform was very efficient and we found it easy to use. A great advantage of the platform is that entrepreneurs don’t have to spend too much time preparing an application. We found the Angels@Essex team very supportive and interested in our business. It was great to meet Business Support Manager, John Stenhouse, and visit the Innovation Centre which we were very impressed by. We’d love to see more people get involved with the platform and have the opportunity to meet with investors like we did.

We would definitely recommend others to join the Angels@Essex platform. It’s invaluable to get out of your bubble!

What we achieved

Engaging with the Angels@Essex team gave us the visibility we needed, and we were able to raise £800,000 of private equity since joining the platform. We are now opening our next round and already there has been keen interest.

Find out more

Angels@Essex is an invitation-only investment platform that links angel investors to entrepreneurs with innovative ideas, allowing new disruptive technologies to flourish.