How CDL-Melbourne can help keep 'incredible' tech talent in Australia
October 11 2023
Diag-Nose Founder and CEO Eldin Rostom at CDL-Seattle.
Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) Melbourne has the potential to make the city a forefront of "incredible, generational science-based companies", says a graduate of the global program.
Eldin Rostom, CEO and Co-founder of Diag-Nose.io, a company focused on respiratory health that combines artificial intelligence and biomarker technologies to help improve patient outcomes and reduce healthcare costs, says Australia boasts incredible talent but lacks big capital.
Mr Rostom, whose company graduated from the CDL-Seatle's computational health stream in June, says the objectives-based, equity-free program's partnership with Monash Business School – an Asia-Pacific first – can play a significant role in keeping companies in Australia.
“I always wished there was something like this in Australia," Mr Rostom told CDL-Melbourne Site Lead A/Prof Charlie Nave.
"Australia has incredible talent, scientists, funding structures for grants etc but we miss big capital to support the companies. And we need more success stories that stay here and don’t leave.
“We can be at the forefront of incredible, generational science-based companies right here. I’m sure CDL-Melbourne can play a really deep part of this.”
Mr Rostom launched Diag-Nose in June 2020 with his three co-founders, who he met through Stanford University's medicine innovation program a year earlier.
To date they have raised about $US1.5 million to conduct early-stage clinical studies and register patents. His co-founders are based in the US, with Eldin and his team of eight employees based in Melbourne.
Mr Rostom said Diag-Nose was scouted to join CDL by an associate in Toronto.
“It is based in Seattle for companies who use AI to solve medical problems. We were still in deep research and development and didn’t have any revenue, but we had clinical evidence and were raising seed funds," he said.
“I was very impressed by the very high profiles and experience of the people involved. We’ve never experienced anything like this in Australia. So, it was very attractive to us to be mentored and talk to potential investors."
Exposure to incredible networks, large global venture capitalists and more
A Session Day at CDL-Seattle.
Mr Rostom and his colleagues mostly saw CDL as an opportunity to pitch their idea and hopefully gain some interest from investors.
He was very impressed by the calibre of people involved, which included attendees from the Gates Foundation, Microsoft Health Futures and some of the biggest venture capitalist firms in the world.
“Not only do they discuss your company, they also discuss amongst themselves so you get a lot of different perspectives," he said.
“Sometimes the feedback is a bit brutal. It’s tough love. The mentors have no other involvement or ulterior motives. The absolute 100% honest and unfiltered truth we received was invaluable.
“In each session you attend, you set goals and have to deliver on them and then people have to put their hand up to support you. We had incredible allies who always supported us. We progressed through and graduated. I just couldn’t believe it. Every one of the companies who took part was so incredible.”
He said CDL had grown Diag-Nose's network exponentially.
"CDL is one of the top networks for science-based companies and now it is so easy to connect with everyone. They want you to succeed," Mr Rostom said.
“Major outcomes and benefits are the incredible networks and new friends within your specific field. Also, the boost of confidence; even though we had great confidence in our idea, when you hear other experienced people who you admire saying ´You guys are building something incredible, it’s a $2 billion company´, that’s something completely different.
"We have a lot more composure and broader understanding of who we are and what we are doing.”
Mr Rostom said Diag-Nose was now raising an AU$4 million round.
"We already have about half of that. We are commercialising a set of devices in the next year and our team of incredibly talented startup operators is growing.”
His advice for businesses taking part in CDL-Melbourne is to “take every session seriously and prepare properly".
"You want to make the most out of every meeting with these incredible mentors. Take the chance and talk to them because you may never get the chance again," he said.
"The journey is long for science-based companies and it’s important to also appreciate it and not just focus on the end goal.
“(And) remember it’s not necessarily a competition against other companies in each round. We are collaborating with other companies we met through CDL.”