While working in the emergency room, Dr. Elizabeth Clayborne’s observation led her to create a medical device.
NasaClip
During her residency in Washington D.C., Clayborne noticed a surprising number of people coming to the emergency room (ER) with nosebleeds. Clayborne found this issue’s prevalence unexpected, as medical professionals consider it a “lower acuity issue.” She soon considered ways to assist patients with this medical condition and recognized technology could bridge the gap.
Clayborne created NasaClip in 2015 after completing her residency. Its first prototype, described as the Band-Aid for nosebleeds, would launch to market in the years following.
“The problem was we didn’t have anything to give patients in the waiting room… something to stop their nose bleeding,” Clayborne said during an interview with AFROTECH™. “So, I was always taping together tongue depressors to make a clip. And I realized like, ‘Why am I doing this? Why do I have to maneuver together some contraption to stop a nosebleed? There should be a device that helps people treat nosebleeds and probably could avoid the ER visit altogether if they had this tool.’ And that is where the idea was born when I was a resident and thinking about it.”
Becoming A Founder With No Business Background
Clayborne began her journey to become a founder and build a device without relying on prior business knowledge.
Since she lacked a traditional business background, she initially put the idea for the device on hold until after COVID-19 when she participated in the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), a venture fund for early-stage businesses in Maryland. This helped Clayborne obtain capital to create a prototype.
“[TEDCO] gave me not only my first capital but also some of the support and advisors I would need to understand how to build a team, fundraise, and take the next steps towards making this a product that could reach market, and it was scary,” she said. “It was scary for me to let go of my very traditional academic emergency medicine path. Those of us who went into medicine spent a long time going to school and training to be a practicing clinician. And for me, fortunately, because I’m an ER doc and we work shifts, I still can practice, and it keeps me grounded and also keeps me aware of problems related to nosebleeds and other issues. So, I still practice and I love that I get to do that.”
Raising $3.5M In Funding
To date, NasaClip and its team have been working to ensure the products can be accessible to people in urgent cares, hospitals, nursing homes, schools, and industries, such as sports medicine, aviation, and the cruise industry.
Additionally, NasaClip has raised $3.5 million, and 70% of the company’s funding has come from Black angel investors.
“We underestimate the power of the Black community when we support each other,” Claybourne said in an interview with AFROTECH™. “I had huge support from Black angel [investors].”
Supporting Black Women With Venture Capital
Clayborne also acknowledged the difficulties in the venture capital space, especially as a Black woman entrepreneur, which further fuels her vision as a founder.
“When you’re talking about the challenges for you know, female founders, I did not understand how challenging it is for us to raise capital,” Clayborne noted. “So, part of my goal with this company… and why it’s so important for me to be successful is not only because I think I’m introducing a very elegant but simple solution to nosebleed emergencies, but I think that my story as a founder when I exit this company at a billion-plus dollars will be inspirational for other women and people of color to pursue their entrepreneurial journey and also for the investors to understand that investing in my demographic is actually not charity. It’s not as risky as they may perceive because of their bias.”
What Comes Next
While Clayborne plants the seed for her long-term vision for the company, her attention remains on its immediate efforts, including a reusable version of the NasaClip, which will be available on Amazon later this year.
