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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1484213
NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2022 BCBUSINESS 67 BCBUSINESS.CA When asked what he learned from helping to build Anandia, Coleman doesn't hesitate to answer: "The single biggest lesson is people." In particular, he stresses, you have to find people who are not only smart but who also have the ability to "react" together (a shocker from a guy with a PhD in the subject, we know). "With a great team, you can accom- plish anything," says Coleman. "It's absolutely paramount to make sure you find people with the skills you need them to have, yes, but more important is getting people that can actu- ally fit within the team chemis- try and work with each other." He hasn't wasted much time. In September, ABOzymes rebranded to Avivo Biomedical and the company is now look- ing to raise Series A financing in the range of US$30 million. On the former, Coleman gives a few reasons for the change. "One was that nobody could pronounce the name properly," he laughs. The second was a barrier to the company's plans to develop the technology worldwide: the way the ABO (A-BOW) part is meant to be pro- nounced sounds similar to an offensive term sometimes used in Australia, according to Cole- man. "So that's bad. And, from a trademark perspective, ABO is a ubiquitous term. So, it was difficult to protect." The company settled on Avivo because "the genesis of the name is 'from life, for life,'" Coleman explains. "When you think of transplant or transfu- sion, people donating their life to give to another, I think it's a nice story. And it's way easier to say." With a relatively small team—Avivo had just hired its 12th employee as of press time— based out of UBC, it's clear that Coleman is trying to capture lightning in a bottle once again. He's confident that the fundrais- ing round will go off without a hitch, even at a time when tech investors are as wary as they've been in the last decade. "The money will cover the manufacturing of enzymes, formal pre-clinical studies and then the first clinical study," he explains. "We had a list of about 20 to 25 groups that had expressed interest in us doing a raise. We expanded that and are going out to 50 different groups. We're hoping to find a lead investor in the next month or so—get the ball rolling. Ide- ally, we'd close it in early 2023." The makeup of investors, says Coleman, will likely be "partly Asian, partly American and partly European, with a minor Canadian component." Some of the proceeds will also go toward growing the team, which he expects to see doubled by the end of next year. Depend- ing, of course, on how well they react together. —N.C. n " With a great team, you can accomplish anything. It's absolutely paramount to make sure you find people with the skills you need them to have, yes, but more important is getting people that can actually fit within the team chemistry and work with each other. "