This week’s newsletter contains information regarding 4 different investments made in companies related to our industry by private equity or investment firms just in the past week. I haven’t been keeping count, but each week as I read Animal Health News and Notes, I see more and more similar announcements. Many are relatively small investments, but the trend is not small at all; capital is available to fund good ideas developed by smart people who are willing to take risks. At Brakke Consulting, we were proud to recently represent Jorgensen Laboratories as they secured an investment from Main Street Capital to fund future growth.
Interestingly, many of the announcements made in recent months have a digital component as the visionaries of our industry see ways to use our exploding digital power to level the playing field. The power of mass and scale enjoyed by Big Pharma will be challenged by smaller players who see ways to chip away at that power with disruptive technologies. Of course, we also see examples of Big Pharma investing in that same sort of digital platform to maintain a market advantage. Good ideas aren’t limited to small companies, and entrepreneurs exist in large organizations as well.
Years ago, I learned a lesson that was not at all obvious to me; that is, good competition makes everyone better. Greater access to capital enables competition, which in turn makes us all better competitors. Isn’t that everyone’s goal?
Jim Kroman