‘Hardest deal is always the first one’ — Partnership adapts Motega Health tech for animal use

January 25, 2019  |  Austin Barnes

Motega Health

A new licensing deal with Simini Technologies has unleashed disruptive potential for Lawrence-built Motega Health, the company announced Thursday.

“We are very pleased to be partnering with Simini and their team and are excited by the energy and creative thinking they are bringing to the commercial process in veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Blake Hawley, founder and CEO of Motega Health –– a biopharmaceutical and food tech company.

“The hardest deal is always the first one, just like getting that first investor. As we demonstrate traction, we show value. We increase our revenue and our long term value skyrockets –– something every investor wants,” Hawley said of the partnership, which marks the company’s first major pharmaceutical pairing –– a connection made possible through St. Louis’ Shear Kershman Laboratories, he added.

As part of the agreement, Motega Health will provide Simini Technologies –– a pharmaceutical company that licenses veterinary rights to human health drug candidates and then develops products for use in animals –– with a license that allows them to research, develop, and commercialize Motega Health’s novel therapies for animals, he said.

Simini Technologies will also assume any further research opportunities and commercial activities, Hawley further explained of the partnership.

“Long term investment allows us to dramatically accelerate our studies and market our products for licensing,” Hawley said of the opportunity to work with Simini Technologies during the early stage phase of Motega Health –– founded in 2018.

Read more about Motega Health in the news here.

“We have been able to demonstrate oral mucosal absorption with drugs and compounds previously thought impossible,” Hawley said in explanation of what drew the company’s together. “This is ground-breaking and has literally hundreds of applications.”

Disrupting the health space one innovation at a time, Motega Health is enabling drug companies to eliminate injections, pills, and tablets. A process that could align the company for exponential growth, Hawley said.

Such growth could include significant investments in the company from Kansas City investors, Hawley revealed.

“We just started our cap raise in November and have had some recent great meetings in KC, which have led to more meetings and warm introductions [with potential investors.]”

Between the company’s deal with Simini Technologies and the potential weight of a first round capital raise, Hawley is eager to see how Motega Health can evolve in the startup space, he said.

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged , , , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2019 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        Joey Mendez and Buck Wimberly, ULAH

        Fund Me, KC: ULAH asks Kansas City to help save Westwood menswear store as pandemic debt looms

        By Tommy Felts | July 7, 2025

        Startland News is continuing its long-running “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for business owners and innovators — like menswear retailers and trendsetters Joey Mendez and Buck Wimberly — to share their crowdfunding stories and potentially gain…

        These 15 KCMO projects just got a $19M+ boost; funding focused on inclusive community investments

        By Tommy Felts | July 7, 2025

        A pair of high-profile projects at 18th and Vine — restoring the Boone Theater and its Kansas City jazz legacy, along with transforming the long-vacant Workhouse Castle into a boutique hotel — offer just a few notes from a chorus of just-funded redevelopment initiatives aimed at buoying small business and tackling challenges in Kansas City’s urban core.…

        Meet 7 startups just funded to turn potential into Kansas City-built tech innovation

        By Tommy Felts | July 7, 2025

        The latest crop of Digital Sandbox KC companies — earning up to $20,000 in project funding for their concepts — are poised to make significant impacts within their industries, said Jill Meyer, noting a through-line from digital health to AI-powered construction and fantasy sports solutions. “These exciting innovations show some great promise, and we’re honored…

        Cosmo Burger brings its mouth-watering tots, boozy milkshakes to East Crossroads’ bustling streets of eats

        By Tommy Felts | July 3, 2025

        Bringing Cosmo Burger to the Crossroads required cousins Atit and Jugal Patel to cook their plans to perfection, serving up the brand’s first full-service brick-and-mortar location after years of trial by griddle. The result: a beefed up version of the owners’ original concept in one of the city’s most popular dining and entertainment districts. “This…