Six years and one pandemic after it launched, St. John’s-based Granville Biomedical has secured its first round of equity investment and is setting its sights on a second raise before too long.

While more than half a decade of bootstrapping will test the entrepreneurial mettle of any founder, the good news is that Granville is now selling its Venus pelvic health education model throughout 24 countries, with seven international distributors. And the company is planning to launch three new products this year, after which it hopes to raise its first “official” round of funding.  

“We have just raised our first round from private investors,” said Co-Founder and CEO Christine Goudie in an interview, adding the pre-seed round was oversubscribed. “We probably should have done it a long time ago but we’re happy with how things have turned out.”

Goudie and Crystal Northcott started the company in 2019 by 3D printing vaginal simulation products that allow healthcare workers to learn about injuries caused by childbirth, disease and genital mutilation. In 2021, it launched Venus, which is now finding buyers not only in emerging economies but with such internationally known institutions as the National Health Service in the U.K., the University of Birmingham, and the University of California San Francisco.

Getting to this happy spot has not been easy for the Granville team. When the pandemic broke out, Canada suffered a critical shortage of medical supplies and needed to produce them domestically. Granville Biomedical answered the call, designing and manufacturing the Granville Swab, which was used in COVID-19 tests. After the pandemic, the Canadian government opted instead for low-cost products made in Asia, leaving the businesses that helped out during the crisis with unsold inventory, Goudie said.

As the company progressed, it needed capital and Goudie borrowed money on behalf of Granville. Eventually, the debts mounted to a total of about $150,000. It was a “crushing burden” and she set out to pay down the debt as sales of the Venus product grew.

“I doubled down on me and I doubled down on the company,” said Goudie. “It focused me, even more than when things got really crazy during COVID. It was a very slow burn, but we got there.”

A few months ago, Goudie was able to post a photo online with a sign saying the debt had all been paid off – a post that had unforeseen benefits. A group of female impact investors saw it, and began to take an interest in Granville Biomedical and its commitment to women’s health.

They came in as investors. Goudie won’t say how much was raised, only that it was a pre-seed round and a few more backers may still come in to the round.

“We plan to follow up with an official fundraising round in the coming months,” said Goudie. “We are seeking additional impact investors who align with our mission to advance women’s health education around the world.” (Interested investors can contact the company via LinkedIn, she said.)

The company’s staff of four is now preparing to launch three new products in 2025, all of which will be used to educate medical staff as well as patients:

• Iris, a pessary demonstration model;
• Astra, an IUD procedural training model;
• And Celeste, a cervical pathology visualization model.

Looking back on the past six years, Goudie said the ups and downs have allowed her team to understand their market and get to know their customers.

“I would not have changed a thing with how we did it,” she said. “It was frustrating, but it gave us the time to get to know our clients. Sometimes, funding lets you progress more quickly, but that can mean you don’t get your processes where you should.”