Publications
Publications
- March 2009
- HBS Case Collection
Incept LLC and Confluent Surgical (A)
By: Bhaskar Chakravorti, Toby E. Stuart and James Weber
Abstract
A venture capitalist must decide whether to invest in a medical technology company that licenses intellectual property from a privately held IP holding company based on a platform technology. Entrepreneurs Amar Sawhney and Fred Khosravi founded Incept LLC to commercialize their multi-use hydrogel technology. The pair then spun off Confluent Surgical to develop some, but not all, of Incept's IP. The specifics of which IP Confluent would develop were described by a licensing agreement between Incept and Confluent. Venture capitalist Charles Warden of Schroder Ventures Life Sciences was deciding whether to invest in a Series A financing round in Confluent. Initially very excited about the deal, Warden becomes concerned about Confluent's valuation and its ability to succeed as a business when he learns about restrictions placed upon Confluent by the licensing agreement. The case describes Incept's business model and its approach to managing risk in early-stage ventures. The case also addresses issues such as diversification and options preservation as well as the importance of trust and long-term relationships in decision making in entrepreneurial arenas.
Keywords
Business Model; Entrepreneurship; Intellectual Property; Rights; Agreements and Arrangements; Partners and Partnerships; Trust; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry
Citation
Chakravorti, Bhaskar, Toby E. Stuart, and James Weber. "Incept LLC and Confluent Surgical (A)." Harvard Business School Case 809-062, March 2009.