MMC has invested a further £10 million in follow-on funding in Neoss, the innovative dental implant company it first backed in 2003.

From left to right: Professor Neil Meredith (Neoss CEO and Co-founder) , Bruce Macfarlane (MMC Director), Fredrik Engman (Neoss Director and Co-founder) and Denis Tinsley (MMC Syndicate and Chairman)

Read our press release:

MMC Ventures invests a further £10 million in Neoss

MMC Ventures (MMC), a venture capital firm investing in growth companies, today announced that it has made a further equity investment of £10 million in Neoss, the innovative developer of dental implant solutions. This is the sixth funding round in which MMC has participated.  MMC first backed Neoss in 2003 with £500,000 of seed money before the company had achieved sales revenues. Other investors, who participated in previous funding rounds, include the Dublin-based venture capital firm, Delta Partners, and Medtronic, Inc., the leading US medical technology company.

The latest funding will support the rapid development of Neoss’s global sales. The company currently operates through subsidiaries in Australia, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, the United States and Sweden; and has distribution channels in Holland, Switzerland, Denmark and Poland.

Neoss is among the 50 fastest growing British technology companies. According to the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100, Neoss ranked # 32, with annual sales growth over the period 2004 – 2006 exceeding 100 per cent CAGR.  Based in Harrogate, Neoss is the sixth fastest growing private technology business in the North of England.

Bruce Macfarlane, co-founder of MMC Ventures, said: “We are delighted to have supported Neoss from a prototype with no sales to a fast growing company with international sales. This is typical of the way we fund our portfolio companies—providing equity capital through multiple rounds to facilitate the sustainable development of growth businesses.”

Professor Neil Meredith, who co-founded Neoss with Swedish engineer, Fredrik Engman, said: “The growth we have achieved has been underpinned by the strong relationships we have established with MMC and our other investors. We are proud that the platform we have developed, with its unique advantages of simplicity, is right at the forefront of dental implant technology.” 

The global dental implant market, according to Merrill Lynch, is forecast to reach $2.7 billion in revenues this year, an increase of 20 % from 2006.  The market’s long term growth potential is supported by the low penetration (less than 10 per cent) of dental implants compared with alternative forms of tooth replacement including bridges and dentures.

For further information:

MMC Ventures
Alanna Rice      
44 (0) 20 7361 0212
www.mmcventures.com

Cardew Group
Richard Spiegelberg / David Roach / Daniela Cormano
44 (0) 20 7930 0777

Notes for editors:

MMC Ventures Ltd (MMC) is a venture capital firm which invests in fast-growing young companies where it believes it can add value and help accelerate that growth.  It has substantial capital available through managed Funds and a Syndicate of over 50 experienced business angel investors who provide mentor capital to portfolio companies. MMC is a generalist investor with a particular interest in healthcare, financial services, technology and business support services due to its focus on growth.  Founded in 2000, MMC has made 17 investments, two of which have exited on AIM.  It seeks to make two to four new investments each year in companies requiring initial funding of £500,000 to £5 million, and has the capacity to follow its money in further rounds of funding.  For further information: www.mmcventures.com

Neoss (www.neoss.com) was founded by Professor Neil Meredith and Fredrik Engman to develop a novel dental implant system for replacing missing teeth.  Recognizing the complexity in existing implant systems, which typically have 1,500 – 3,000 components, they have created a highly rationalized, patented system with a minimum number of components. This makes the Neoss implant one of the easiest systems to use. It is ideally suited not only to specialist implantologists but also to general practitioners – the market segment with the highest future growth potential.

Dental implants are titanium “roots” that are placed into the jawbone to support a crown to form an artificial tooth. Developed over 30 years ago, they are now the treatment of choice for replacing missing teeth and give results that feel like a normal tooth to the patient with excellent aesthetics.