Why Purpose - Not Venture Capital - is Powering Australia’s Next Medtech Breakthrough

In Australia, skin cancer is almost a national pastime, but not the fun kind. Despite decades of medical progress, diagnosing it still relies on an invasive surgical biopsy. Two in three Australians will face skin cancer in their lifetime, and many wear the scars of biopsies almost like a badge of honour. What most people don't realise is that more than 60% of those biopsies turn out to be benign and avoidable. That's over a million unnecessary procedures every year in Australia. For melanoma, it takes an average of fifteen biopsies to find one true case.

I've seen both sides of this reality: the people who rush to get checked, and the ones who convince themselves the suspicious spot is nothing. The "it'll go away" or "I'll get it looked at when I have time." Deep down, we all know what we're avoiding – an invasive surgical procedure. It's human nature not to run toward pain. No one is to blame for that fear, but it's that same fear that can turn something treatable into something far worse.

I know this because it happened to my mum. When she was diagnosed with aggressive skin cancer, she had delayed her biopsy because she was terrified of needles. That moment changed everything for me. It set me on a mission to create a safer, more accessible way to detect skin cancer, one that could spare others from going through what she did.

That mission became DermR Health and the DermR® Patch, a world-first, needle-free micro-sampling device that collects tiny skin samples for genetic analysis. It's painless, accurate and designed to replace millions of avoidable biopsies every year.

Building this company has been the hardest thing I've ever done, with the most limited resources. When I tell people we've invented a new way to diagnose cancer, they're often shocked to learn we're not a university spin-out or backed by investors. Everything we've achieved has come from bootstrapping: personal savings, prize money from pitch competitions, small government grants and R&D tax incentives.

We've raised more than $2.7 million this way over the last four years. It hasn't been easy, but it has kept us aligned with our purpose. Medtech is one of the toughest industries to survive in. Most investors require a return within five years, but bringing a medical device to market takes on average ten. For us, that's reality. We live in what's known as the "valley of death" between research and commercialisation – the place where most startups disappear.

I tried following the conventional startup path once. It nearly broke me. Raising capital became a full-time job, full of compromises that risked diluting our focus, our ethics and our control. Traditional investors bring resources, but they also bring pressure, quick exits, short-term returns and growth targets that don't always align with patient outcomes.

Working without institutional investors has forced us to be lean, creative and resilient. Every decision matters. Every dollar has to earn its place. It's not easy, but it's freeing. We can move quickly, take smart risks and measure success by impact, not profit. That independence has become our greatest strength.

And somehow, it's worked. We've won SXSW Sydney, been named Australian Technology Biotech of the Year, met ministers and policymakers, and this year, represented Australia at the Falling Walls Foundation in Berlin, one of the world's leading stages for science and innovation.

We're still a few years away from full commercial launch, but patience and resilience matter more than speed. The right investment will come when it's meant to, and now that we're finally within the five-year return window most investors look for, the dynamic has shifted. People are starting to come to us, not the other way around. Until then, we'll keep building independently, purposefully and against the odds.

The medtech world is full of brilliant ideas that never reach patients. Up to 90% of startups fail within five years, lost in the system long before their technology leaves the lab. But I've learned that outliers can make a difference. You don't need hundreds of staff or millions in funding to change healthcare. You need creativity, conviction and a reason that matters more than profit.

For me, that reason has always been clear. It began with my mum, but it's about everyone who deserves a safer, earlier and more accessible way to detect skin cancer. That's what keeps me going.