An innovator guided CyDen's pioneering light treatments for hair removal. Now, with an early investor as chairman, the company aims to take its home grooming products into medical markets
Chris Outram When CyDen was set up seven years ago, a friend who was involved in the project told me to invest. Like most of these things you put in a modest amount of money, shut your eyes and cross your fingers. He came back to me in early 2010 and asked if I wanted to know what I'd invested in. He explained what the company had been doing. I was bowled over. I became chairman and that's when I met Marc Clement.
Marc Clement It was a mix of science and serendipity. In the Eighties during a fusion experiment I had accidentally fired a laser on to the back of my hand and observed over the years that the hair hadn't grown back. That led us into an attempt to become the first organisation to get FDA approval for the use of lasers in hair suppression. I still have a bald patch the size of a penny on my hand.
CO You can buy the product in Boots. I bought 10 almost immediately. I gave them to colleagues in the office and family friends. I was keen to see how they reacted, which was extremely positively. If you look at the competitors, none are able to claim the permanent hair removal that our technology can achieve.
MC What light does in the case of hair and skin is to stimulate the natural processes of the body. I think that's a fabulous platform to build a product portfolio. Our product exposes the cells to an experience that suppresses their activity but doesn't destroy anything. What we're doing is using light in a way that isn't traumatic and aggressive. It's a non-laser solution that is [very] gentle.
CO Marc presided over a very successful period in the company but one that had not been terribly well funded. It's typical for small companies that funding tends to come in small lumps. You're typically raising funds every six to 12 months. What happened here is that our group of shareholders realised this wasn't the right way of doing things. The right way was to back this thing very confidently and give it the chance to blossom.
MC If you live outside the south-east, it gets exponentially harder to raise intelligent, patient, informed funding. This is all about networks-scientific networks, knowledge networks, and networks controlling routes to market. All networks are built on trust. And trust is built over years of relationships in which you've honoured obligations to others. People do business with people they trust.
CO Because it's a new technology consumers had to learn how to use it. That means you have to spend a considerable sum on marketing. Small companies always have to kick-start the market I'm afraid. Between us we were creating a new category. That is an expensive business whichever way you cut it.
MC Stubbornness is a true attribute of the entrepreneur: knowing when to give up when a cause is lost, but also knowing that if a cause is not lost, not to give up. I think if you enter into partnership with like-minded people it brings another perspective on what should be given up and what should be persevered with.
CO We're looking for global partners in the exploitation of this technology. That's an area where I'm pretty experienced. I tend to spend most of my time on that, plus worrying about the finance and funding of the company. Given his expertise, Marc is spending time thinking about the fundamental technology and development of new products. It dovetails really well. Marc is a pleasure to work with. He's extraordinarily likeable, but he's also an extraordinarily talented individual.
MC Chris is a great leader. He's very calm, very articulate, a great communicator and a great listener. He's not perfect, none of us are, but I think he has those attributes in depth and that allows the techie like myself to feel listened to on the key issues but also accept guidance on the commercial issues.
CO We've primarily identified the beauty and grooming market, but long term we think the technology will also have applications in medical markets. In five years' time, if everything goes well, we'll be sitting on top of a company that will be turning over hundreds of millions of pounds.
MC I think that's one metric and I think we'll achieve it. I think there's also another metric: building a bond of trust with people around the world and delivering positive benefits to their wellbeing.
