RedOak Instruments
Red Oak Instruments produces biomedical devices that allow quantitative measurements of fine motor skills.
Overview
Raised: $47,780
Total Commitments ($USD)
Netcapital
02/20/2021
04/23/2021
$100
Equity - Common
Seed
RegCF
$2.00
$6,927,896
Rolling Commitments ($USD)
04/29/2021
$783
2008
Healthcare & Pharmaceuticals
Hardwaretech
B2B/B2C
Low
Low
CompanyDescription
Summary Profit and Loss Statement
| Most Recent Year | Prior Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Revenue |
$0 |
$0 |
|
COGS |
$0 |
$75,389 |
|
Tax |
$0 |
$0 |
| ||
| ||
|
Net Income |
$-243,003 |
$-276,797 |
Summary Balance Sheet
| Most Recent Year | Prior Year | |
|---|---|---|
|
Cash |
$17,987 |
$126,565 |
|
Accounts Receivable |
$0 |
$0 |
|
Total Assets |
$70,738 |
$180,467 |
|
Short-Term Debt |
$257 |
$4,983 |
|
Long-Term Debt |
$0 |
$0 |
|
Total Liabilities |
$257 |
$4,983 |
Price per Share History
Note: Share prices shown in earlier rounds may not be indicative of any stock splits.
Valuation History
Revenue History
Note: Revenue data points reflect the latest of either the most recent fiscal year's financials, or updated revenues directly from the founder, at each raise's close date.
Employee History
Upgrade to gain access
-
$25 /month
billed annually - Free portfolio tracking, data-driven ratings, AI analysis and reports
- Plan Includes:
- Everything in Free, plus
- Company specific
KingsCrowd ratings and analyst reports
- Deal explorer and side-by-side comparison
- Startup exit and failure tracking
- Startup market filters and historical industry data
- Advanced company search ( with ratings)
- Get Edge Annual
Edge
Ratings 
Analyst Report
Synopsis
Injuries occur indiscriminately to people from all walks of life, but they are infamously frequent among athletes. Every year, more than 3.5 million sports injuries occur among children and teenagers alone. A clear demand exists for giving athletes prompt medical treatment. However, many of these injuries go unreported, leading to potential complications. RedOak Instruments is a company that operates within the sports and medical technology industries. The company’s product (the RU-Fit Device) is designed to monitor fine motor skills in athletes, simultaneously creating opportunities for them to improve in sports and diagnosing concussions or other injuries before they become severe.
The sports medicine industry is a rapidly growing one (currently estimated to be worth $8.1 billion), especially with head injuries being as frequent for young athletes as they are. There are an estimated 300k sports-related traumatic head injuries for people ages 15-24 in the United States, making sports injuries the second-leading cause of traumatic brain injury for this age range.
RedOak Instruments’ Fine Motor Control screening method has been FDA approved, and the company claims in its current raise that the equipment is ready to be sold. However, the company has been around since 2008 and has seemingly very little to show for it — product-wise or financially. The potential is there, and the company’s product can definitely be applied to many different sports, but there doesn’t seem to be much in terms of preexisting traction.
RedOak Instruments’ current Netcapital raise has been rated a Neutral Deal from the KingsCrowd investment team.
Price
RedOak Instruments is currently raising at a $6,927,896 valuation. At first glance, this amount seems low in comparison to many other startups currently available for investment. However, RedOak received no revenue in the most recent fiscal year and went from $126,565 cash on-hand last year to $17,987 cash on-hand this year. The lack of revenue makes the company’s $6.9 million valuation entirely unjustified. Thus, the price score for RedOak Instruments is low.
Market
Globally, the sports medicine market was valued at $8.1 billion in 2019. There has been a recent uptick in participation in sports and exercise amongst Americans. Nearly 20% of all people under the age of 15 partook in some form of exercise in 2015, compared to 15.9% in 2003. This rise in playing sports has in turn led to a rise in sports injuries, growing the possible market that RedOak will have access to.
The global traumatic brain injury assessment and management devices market was valued at $2.9 billion in 2020. RedOak plans on having wider medical applications on top of its sports applications. Its proposed product can be easily utilized in various physically demanding industries in which knowledge of an injury ahead of time would be beneficial. The ability to expand into other markets is possible for the company, but it has little existing market success to indicate expansion is close.
Due to the small size of RedOak’s current target markets, the company scores poorly in the market metric.
Team
ROI’s current CTO, William C. Paske, is a co-founder of the company as well as the mind behind its fine motor control measurement technology. Paske has an MS degree in Nuclear Physics and a PhD in Atomic and Molecular Physics. He has 10 US patents to his name, including the technology used by RedOak. He is joined at the company by president and CEO Richard Behlmann. Behlmann has his JD from St. Mary’s University of Law and oversees the business strategy and sales. Behlmann’s dedication to the company is questionable as he is also an actively practicing lawyer and managing his own firm.
The team is rounded out by David and Charles Paske (COO and vice president of market development, respectively), Vice President of IT David Hinote, and Software Development Lead Daniel Stewart. The team does have a wide variety of experience with degrees in fields like mechanical engineering, physics, electrical engineering, computer science, and law. This diversity of skill sets is an asset at any startup and hopefully allows for RedOak to keep inventing cutting-edge technology. Therefore, RedOak Instruments team score is its highest across all five metrics.
Differentiators
Most diagnoses need to be given by a licensed professional and are subjective. RedOak Instruments’ tests can be given by anyone with one hour of training and provide metrics that are easily compared over time. This functionality is meant to create an objective picture of the progress made by a patient and the signs of injury. The duration of its test — under 10 minutes — is also a huge differentiator for RedOak. Additionally, the company has secured patents for its technology, lending defensibility.
The company identifies Positron Emission Tomography as a competing technology that also allows for repeated and reproducible tests. However, the price point and time needed for these tests is much higher than RedOak’s.
Due to these many distinctions from current technology, RedOak Instruments has a strong differentiators score.
Performance
RedOak Instrument’s performance thus far, 13 years into existence, is negligible. The medical instrument created by William Paske does have FDA approval, and the company says it has 100 testing systems already constructed and ready to be sold. As of now, however, there has been no actual progress in doing so.
RedOak’s technology has been beta tested and used by orthopedic surgeons, psychologists, and epidemiologists,indicating potential for widespread approval and traction. Financially, RedOak has very little to show. Cash on hand dropped from around $126,000 in the previous fiscal year to just under $18,000 in the most recent fiscal year. That type of cash burn for a company that also has no revenue is not a good indicator for future success. As a result, the performance score for RedOak Instruments is middling.
Bearish Outlook
RedOak Instruments has been in existence for 13 years but has very little to show for it. With barely any product and lack of existing partnerships to inspire hope in future success, RedOak seems like it is on the wrong path. The CEO isn’t firmly committed to the company and could fall behind the competition or lose interest altogether. Overall, RedOak Instruments has had a shaky past and seems to have an even shakier future.
Bullish Outlook
RedOak Instruments’ technology has already been patented and FDA approved, allowing it to sell its product freely. The company alleges to have 100 instruments ready to be sold. If its initial beta testing yields interested parties, revenue could start coming in. With more people participating in exercise and sports, there are increased opportunities for RedOak to sell its instruments. Additionally, it’s possible that the company’s solution could have applications outside of sports. If it expands its market aspirations to include various other industries where regular physical check-ups are important, it will have many more sales opportunities.
Executive Summary
RedOak Instruments is a company that has been around since 2008 and still operates with no revenue. The CEO runs a law firm alongside his work with RedOak, calling into question his dedication to the company. With little product to speak of, no existing partnerships, and no immediate opportunities presented, the company’s future seems shaky. However, the industry is growing, and the product has wide applications in the field of medicine, especially in relation to sports. A solid review from an early adopter of RedOak Instruments’ product could put them on the right path. Factoring everything in, RedOak Instruments has been rated a Neutral Deal.
For questions regarding the KingsCrowd staff pick or ratings for this company, please reach out to support@kingscrowd.com.
Analysis written by Ethan Thomas.