Why We Created Clora

I, like many others in the biotech, pharmaceutical, and medical device industries, fortuitously fell into a career in this inspiring field that puts patients and their well-being above all else. The level of compassion that the majority of the life sciences industry demonstrates daily while urgently trying to solve complex scientific problems that have global repercussions on humanity is incredibly energizing.

We continue to push the pace of progress with the advent of new technologies and treatment modalities. There are a handful of themes frequently discussed that are central to our ability to innovate rapidly:

• Outsourcing is the norm and is here to stay. There are hundreds of skill sets required to bring a product to market. No company, irrespective of size, has or needs to have all the required expertise in-house. Tapping into the right expertise effectively is a competitive advantage.
• We need to increase our productivity. On average, it takes ~14 years and over $1 billion to get a product to market. Months are often wasted tackling problems that have been solved before.
• Every day counts. Hundreds, if not thousands, of lives could be saved if we are able to get safe and efficacious new therapies to market faster. The opportunity costs of a delay of a single day are in the millions.

As new products are shepherded from the laboratory to animal testing to human clinical trials and beyond, the ability to access a flexible, skilled talent pool that’s dynamic enough to navigate the vast complexities of development is a necessity.

While running clinical development programs for products ranging from rare diseases to global epidemics, I grew increasingly frustrated with the slow speed of execution as a result of poor access to the right expertise at the right time. I knew that there was a highly capable and skilled consulting workforce out there that could help but it often took months to find the right person, if I was able to at all. 

The means by which we tap into expertise hasn’t changed in decades and this inertia is holding this critical industry back. The current methods by which we access expertise:

• On average, take 2 months and have a success rate under 50%
• Focus only on local talent pools and immediate networks
• Are noisy and unnecessarily complex, resulting in distracted teams and decreased productivity

The industry, patients, and the healthcare system demand better. I was driven to fundamentally change how we, as an industry, innovate and operate. Hence, Clora was born. Our mission is to provide access to the world’s life science expertise so that we’re able to develop new therapies faster and more cost-effectively.

Whether you are at a small biotech start-up or in big Pharma, we all face similar challenges in a rapidly evolving landscape that requires companies to be nimble while maintaining development momentum. Clora can efficiently connect you with the right expertise when you need it so that you don't lose critical time bringing your innovative therapy to market.

Today, we’re thrilled to announce our seed round led by Spark Capital along with strong support from iSeed Ventures, Ludlow Ventures, Notation Capital, Social Capital, v1.vc, KohFounders, Beta Bridge Capital, New Stack Ventures, AngelList, Matt Mickiewicz, Stephano Kim, Amit Chaturvedi, Jenny Fielding, and Joel Wishkovsky.

I’m privileged to be tackling this challenge with my passionate teammates, Conor Harris, Leaya Martelli, Minh Phan, Ian Donovan, Tabitha Kadima, and the many others that have supported us along the way! The life sciences industry has bold ambitions and we are dedicated to doing everything we can to power those ambitions.

Interested in learning more? If you’re an employer, you can register here. Consultants can sign-up here.

Learn More

• Forbes
• TechCrunch
• Xconomy
• Spark Capital's blog post about Clora
• Notation Capital's blog post about Clora