Continued sales success for Invent Medic
Lund-based Invent Medic’s investments to reach higher sales continue to yield results. The 2022 Q4 report shows strong organic growth seasoned with acquisitions and CEO Anna Lindström has no plans to slow down. BioStock contacted her for a comment on the report.
Invent Medic develops and sells products that promote women’s health in various ways. The company developed its first product, Efemia bladder support, to help women suffering from stress urinary incontinence. In that spirit, they then launched a new patented menstrual cup, designed to be comfortable, soft and at the same time safe from leaks.
In many respects, 2022 was a transformative year for the company. The journey from having had full focus on development to becoming a commercial company has meant significant changes for the organisation. On the one hand, the company has gained proper control of costs. On the other, the available resources have been heavily focused on increasing sales.
Strong organic growth and reduced costs
By all accounts, the company has succeeded in its efforts. Sales for the fourth quarter of 2022 amounted to just over 0.9 MSEK, which corresponds to a growth of approximately 80 per cent compared to the same period last year. At the same time, it managed to trim its results to a loss of approximately 1.8 MSEK, compared with -6.2 MSEK for Q4 2021.
“Now that large parts of the restructuring have been completed, we can put all our focus on continuing to increase sales”, writes Invent Medic’s CEO Anna Lindström in the report for the fourth quarter of 2022.
Acquisitions to add growth going forward
In addition to the company’s focus on organic growth, the strategy is also to grow through acquisitions. At the turn of the year, the first acquisition was presented in the form of the purchase of the Malmö company FlowCup, for approximately 3.7 MSEK. FlowCup sells menstrual cups and accessories via its own web shop to customers in Europe. In 2021, the company had a turnover of over 3 MSEK, with a slightly positive result. With the acquisition, FlowCup’s founder Diana Lidforsen became one of the largest shareholders in Invent Medic, with a holding of approximately 12.6 per cent.
In connection with the deal, Invent Medic’s CEO announced that the company is not yet satisfied. It will continue to be active in acquiring companies that have products that fit well into the portfolio. The goal is to have a portfolio of at least ten products and annual sales of at least 50 MSEK within three to four years.
High activity in marketing
Not long after the acquisition, Invent Medic announced that the company’s proprietary menstrual cup had been launched as part of the FlowCup range, under the new name FlowCup Flex. This is the first step in expanding the FlowCup family, which will also be expanded with period underwear.
The company also recently announced that it is sponsoring Svenska Fotbollförbundets and Svenska Spel’s new initiative “Alla dagar”. The initiative is made to break taboos around menstruation and make it easier for young football girls. Invent Medic will contribute a FlowCup menstrual cup in the menstrual kit that will be distributed to participants in the initiative. To begin with, the kits will be distributed to four pilot clubs and all employees at the Swedish Football Association will have the opportunity to test FlowCup.
Comments from the CEO
BioStock contacted CEO Anna Lindström to get a comment on the quarterly report and to learn more about her take on 2023.
First of all, 2022 is now over. What is your take on the last year?
– I cannot help but sum it up as an intense year. There have been many major changes in the company in many different areas and I am proud and happy that we have managed to go through with everything in a very good way.
– It is a completely new company where we have used the well-built foundation with safe products and reliable processes, to add the customer and market dimension. But we want a lot more and it is felt throughout the company. That bodes well for 2023.
You experienced strong growth in 2022 and acquired FlowCup in January. Is it possible to say something about what growth you expect going forward?
– The acquisition of FlowCup was completed at the end of January and we are in an intensive period of integration to build on the synergies we have seen between the company. With these in place, we can then continue to focus on growth by adding more products such as menstrual underwear to FlowCup’s already established sales channel.
– For the Efemia brand with the product Efemia Bladder Support, we continue to expand our distributor network by welcoming Icelandic Stud to the list of distributors. Much of our sales depend on recommendations, which is a long-term and stable model for creating growth and profitability over time. We see many positive signs that this is now happening in several of our markets.
If we dig a little deeper around the acquisition. How long does it take, do you think, before the company is fully integrated into Invent Medic?
– The integration is going well and during the first quarter we are focusing on working with the synergies that we have identified, and which will form the basis for being able to add more products to FlowCup’s web shop. A prioritised and important milestone in the first stage of integration was to launch FlowCup Flex and we really kick-started it and were able to launch the product less than a month after the takeover.
– Integration between the companies takes place at different stages and we are starting to get through the first part. This is where we ensure that the current business is maintained, while a lot of practical matters are handled.
You have communicated more long-term goals of a turnover of at least 50 MSEK within three to four years. What do you need to do to make that a reality?
– We see that the number of products in the portfolio will be important to achieve economies of scale. This means that we continue to evaluate interesting products in women’s health that we can expand the portfolio with. While we do this, it is important that current products continue to grow organically and are given the best conditions to do so.
If we concentrate on 2023, what milestones do you hope to report on during the year?
– 2023 is also planned to be an eventful year and we have started strongly with the implementation of the acquisition of Flowcup, the launch of FlowCup Flex. We have also signed an agreement with a distributor for Efemia bladder support in Iceland.
– Within the FlowCup channel, we look forward to launching the menstrual underwear during the year and establishing ourselves in more markets in Europe. For Efemia Bladder Support, we are starting the first intimate campaign with the pharmacies. More campaigns will take place during the year. We work very actively with the profession and will participate in several fairs and look forward to being procured in at least one more region.
The content of BioStock’s news and analyses is independent but the work of BioStock is to a certain degree financed by life science companies. The above article concerns a company from which BioStock has received financing.
