Al Fosmoe said he “totally blew the presentation” during the Gainesville Area Innovation Network's ShootOut last month.
The slides behind him were too big to read and every time he stepped to the side to read from the computer, the microphone fed back and squealed.
So after the third-place and then second-place winners were announced, he said he wasn't even listening as he talked to a person next to him at dinner when his company was announced as the Top Gun winner — twice.
“Someone at the table said, 'Hey Al, I think that's you.'”
Fosmoe's company, AuxThera, won for its Trimauxil weight-loss product and eating program for dogs.
Despite his presentation, he said the judges recognized both the need that Trimauxil fills and the caliber of the team he put together for his company.
“One of the hardest things in a startup is to fill a need,” he said. “It's easy to create products, but to solve a need is the real challenge. And if you pick a big need and you've got a good solution, then you've got a really good story.”
The need is that 53 percent of dogs are overweight, putting them at risk of diabetes, respiratory problems and heart problems.
Trimauxil is sprinkled over dog food. It works by reducing the size and number of white fat cells and will be used in conjunction with AuxThera's food and snack monitoring program. The product will only be available through licensed veterinarians trained on its use.
Fosmoe started AuxThera in September and is now preparing a “soft launch” of Trimauxil among veterinarians in Florida before a national launch early next year, for which the company is in talks to raise $600,000 from investors.
AuxThera has eight employees and works out of two offices and a lab in the University of Florida Innovation Hub.
Fosmoe has managed drug and medical device manufacturing operations for various biotech companies in Alachua's Progress Park for nearly 30 years.
He got his start as a grad student working in the lab of Bioglass inventor Larry Hench, which would lead to work in companies built around Hench's inventions, including Geltech and USBiomaterials, later working for Ixion and OxThera. He was working as a consultant in recent years, helping companies with process and product improvements, when he was asked to take a look at the technology behind Trimauxil.
“I've been chasing the biotech ring for years and got a lot of stock options that make good wallpaper. It's a high-risk, high-reward business. I've always put a lot of effort into helping these companies move forward and I always wondered what I could do on my own if I put that kind of effort to start up a company and then more importantly develop a team,” he said.
The technology was originally discovered by a local biotech company when used as a control against a compound used to keep genetically modified bacteria alive. The inventor noticed that it reduced the weight of mice in lab tests.
“It was a serendipitous discovery,” he said.
Fosmoe licensed the technology from that company and started AuxThera.
Trimauxil will initially be available for dogs and AuxThera plans to offer a version of its program for cats, which have a higher rate of weight problems.
“I've been very fortunate to work all my life in areas that had meaning and impact on other people's lives,” Fosmoe said.
“This is an area that can make a tremendous impact to people's lives, as important as their pets are. Studies correlate well being of the owners to the vitality and health of their pets as well, so it's a win-win situation.”
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