Interview: TRENDLINES Executive Buoyed By Showcase Standouts

THE TRENDLINES GROUP LTD (SGX:42T / TTGL:SP) -- a leading Israel-based startup incubator -- which launched its Singapore IPO in late 2015 to enhance its brand profile and investment potential across Greater China, is fresh off yet another successful event highlighting promising firms in the medical technology and agricultural technology space, a top executive said. 
 
Last week, the Singapore listco held its 7th Annual Trendlines Company Showcase at Kibbutz Shefayim, Israel. 

Of the half-dozen medical technology and three agricultural technology firms presenting at the Company Showcase, which among them elicited more head-turning investor and/or technical interest, and why do you think this was the case?

Mr. Steve Rhodes, Chairman and CEO, The Trendlines Group Ltd:  This is a very difficult question, especially since I think many (or even most) of the companies attracted a lot of attention. 
 
Having said that, I think that our two female CEOs may have attracted the most attention. 
 
Dr. Edit Goldberg of Escala Medical did a great job presenting the company's unique technology for a nonsurgical, mesh-free repair of pelvic organ prolapse, a painful condition that affects millions of women around the world. 
 
On the agtech side of the equation, Ms. Lenore Shoham introduced InPlant Technologies adaptation of drug-delivery technology to the world of plant health, and showed how it can dramatically improve the efficacy of agrochemicals and nutrients, while reducing their impact on the environment.

I had a chance to visit Leviticus Cardio at its facilities in Israel late last year and I believe it to be one of the more high-profile, well-known medical technology firms within the Trendlines portfolio, and is also one of the most promising in terms of long-term potential. 
 
Not only are congestive heart failure and cardiac ailments in general on the rise worldwide -- in large part due to aging populations and enhanced longevity -- but the needs and expectations for commensurate higher quality of life demands are rising along with lifespans.

Part and parcel of these requirements is a desire to enjoy all the things we take for granted in the prime of our life -- family, fun, fullness of life and -- medical functionality.

That is where Leviticus Cardio steps in.

Has the medical, technical and investor reception to this innovative firm's business strategy and evolving product line met and/or exceeded expectations? And has its financing chronology been indicative of widespread investor support for the firm's prospects?

Mr. Steve Rhodes:  Leviticus Cardio has, indeed, drawn a tremendous amount of attention from cardiologists, industry, and investors, and the company's proven technology has the potential to transform the heart failure market by eliminating the major drawback of Left Ventricular Assist Devices (LVADs) - the drive line. 
 
The company has attracted a group of strong European investors who have not only contributed great business insight, but have also helped facilitate some very important clinical contacts. 
 
As we get closer to market, and as the company forms strategic alliances, its prospects look better all the time.

Leviticus, the Third Book of the Torah, is concerned -- among other things -- with outlining the behavior and practices of the early Jewish rabbis, including a focus on cleanliness, with the Book also providing instructions that emphasize ritual, legal and moral practices reflecting the worldview of the creation story in Genesis that God ultimately wishes to live with humans, and the Book teaches that faithful performance of the sanctuary rituals can make that possible, so long as the people avoid sin and impurity whenever possible.

Do you think the founders of Leviticus Cardio nearly a decade ago chose to name their firm after the Biblical Book given its association with purification and even bringing a "Divine" (if you will) solution -- albeit temporary -- to the mortal state of mankind? (i.e.: providing an infection-resistant recharging modality for VAD implants, as existing/erstwhile subcutaneous power needs for such life-saving products have typically been necessary -- and inherently dangerous given infection risk?

Mr. Steve Rhodes:  That's a great theory, and maybe the company should adopt it, but what the founder once told me was that he had called his last company Genesis and it was very successful, so he thought he would stick with a winning formula. 
 
And since Exodus sounded like a strange name for a company, he went with Leviticus.
Looking ahead a decade or two, all things being equal, it seems inevitable that more economically advanced societies such as Japan, the EU, North America and China are, for varying socioeconomic reasons, destined to see a continued "graying" of their populations.

Does Leviticus Cardio perhaps see this as a realization that the improving technological strengths of LVADs alongside its own evolving efficacy in its proprietary Coplanar Energy Transfer (CET) technology might be the option of choice -- the medtech benchmark -- as populations age and healthy heart transplant donors decrease as an overall proportion of the global population?

Mr. Steve Rhodes:  We definitely believe that LVADs, in conjunction with the Leviticus Cardio CET, are likely to be the destination therapy of choice for many years, until the next radical breakthrough occurs and comes to market (probably 15 - 20 years out, if I had to guess).

BioFishency -- and All-in-One water treatment system for aquaculture -- presented at last week's 7th Annual Trendlines Company Showcase, and I also took in a presentation by BioFishency in Israel late last year and was impressed with their already having entered revenue stage.

Furthermore, given the importance of fish protein to growing populations worldwide -- especially in emerging markets including the Philippines and with the company enjoying agreements with densely populated markets in Bangladesh and India -- which also struggle with clean-water issues -- as well as cooperation for community aquaculture farm projects in Africa -- BioFishency strikes one as being one of the highest-potential agricultural technology firms in your portfolio.

Additionally, it snugly fits into your company's charter: "Simply stated, we create and develop companies to improve the human condition."

From an investment point of view, do firms such as BioFishency that engender such a clear cut beneficial contribution to mankind, typically see a) enhanced investor interest? b) faster regulatory approval? and/or c) speedier transition to revenue-positive status?
Mr. Steve Rhodes:  I wish that was the case, but I'm afraid my answer to all three questions - at least in the case of BioFishency - has to be no. 
 
Investors are focused on returns, as are growers, so we need to persuade both that BioFishency is a great investment, and that purchasing a BioFishency system is a great way to increase productivity for the grower. 
 
Fortunately, the system speaks for itself, and once a grower has the system and sees what it can do, they will typically order additional systems for more of their ponds.
A positive answer I can give to your question relates to faster regulatory approval for some of our medical devices. 
 
Sometimes, if there is no existing effective treatment, the FDA in the US can shorten the approval times for devices. 

(Note: This story is contributed by Andrew Vanburen. Mr. Vanburen has served as a
government official focused on international trade at the American Institute of Taiwan in
Taipei, and worked in financial journalism for nearly a decade in both Beijing and
Shenzhen. He holds a Master's Degree from New York University. He is currently Director at
Hong Kong-based Asia Fund Space. For more information, please visit:
www.asiafundspace.com)