A tiny Olathe Kansas startup with technology to mass produce an individual’s own stem cells just fleshed out its team from three to five full time workers (and one part time).
Tom Jantsch, formerly of EyeVerify and Bardavon Health Innovations, comes in as Ronawk’s President and COO. Scott Leigh, MIDSCI, is the new Chief Revenue Officer, with big shoes to fill as the startup reports doubling revenues in 2021 to more than $700,000 from $347,000 in 2020 (a 4thEst8 exclusive tidbit).
A.J. Mellott and Heather Decker of Ronawk
“Bringing on Tom Jantsch is a big deal … he has spent a significant portion of his career getting companies up and going, being acquired or going public,” CEO A. J. Mellott told the 4thEst8. “Scott Leigh… has been selling our competitors product for over 25 years. And when he saw what we’re doing he left his job. That kind of enthusiasm is incredible.”
Spun out of the University of Kansas Medical Center and founded in 2019 by Mellott and CTO Heather Decker, Ronawk is developing technology that can mass produce a patients own stem cells in the lab. Those cells, called ‘biologics’, can be used in the treatment of many diseases, cancer, organ injuries, and burns. The Olathe, KS startup sells its products to scientists developing vaccines, therapeutics, treatments, and diagnostics.
The company has a patent pending and last spring announced its intention to hire 25 workers in the ‘next 18 months’ – something Mellott re-affirmed with the 4thEst8 in a fall interview about the companies first overseas customer.
Mellott says the company is mostly bootstrapped with “a little bit of funding… by a family office” (something CrunchBase calls ‘ Venture – Series Unknown’ from June, 2020) for an undisclosed amount. 4thEst8 readers first heard of Ronawk when they were featured at the 2021 InvestMidwest Forum.
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