Problem: lots of early stage biotech/medtech ventures have a hard time raising funding, for a variety of structural reasons (http://lifescivc.com/2015/01/ventur

Problem: lots of early stage biotech/medtech ventures have a hard time raising funding, for a variety of structural reasons (http://lifescivc.com/2015/01/venture-backed-biotech-today-reflections-on-exits-funding-and-startup-formation/ http://lifescivc.com/2015/01/venture-backed-biotech-today-re...), despite having already made initial progress using non-dilutive government funding (NIH grants, SBIR, STTR, etc.). Solution: an equity crowdfunding site for early stage biotech/medtech ventures focused on gaining backing from doctors and other knowledgeable medical professionals. Those same life sciences entrepreneurs who are having a hard time raising $5-10M in VC funding are often in a hospital environment, surrounded by doctors who both deeply understand the problems they're trying to solve and whose pooled capital could easily add up to $5-10M. Not only would this counteract scams in this industry made possible by information asymmetry (http://pando.com/2015/03/05/backers-claim-nanoplug-hearing-aids-293k-indiegogo-campaign-was-a-scam/ http://pando.com/2015/03/05/backers-claim-nanoplug-hearing-a...), many medical professionals already meet the (pre-JOBS Act) income or wealth requirements to be an accredited investor. One major concern with this idea is whether the VCs who weren't willing to invest in a series A-stage life sciences ventures would be willing to come in at a later stage. They typically prefer tranched investments (http://lifescivc.com/2013/02/lessons-learned-reflections-on-early-stage-biotech-venture-investing/ http://lifescivc.com/2013/02/lessons-learned-reflections-on-...) and don't necessarily see later stage ventures as less risky (http://lifescivc.com/2011/11/risky-business-late-stage-vs-early-stage-biotech/ http://lifescivc.com/2011/11/risky-business-late-stage-vs-ea...). If that turns out to be a problem, another scalable source of follow-on investment will have to be tapped in order to prevent a "series B crunch" for these non-traditionally funded biotech/medtech ventures.