Dear DC, thank you very much for your response!

> Why do you believe this? How many VCs have you talked to about whether they'd be fine with the lower-cost version you want?

I have spoken with approximately a couple of hundred VCs or VC brokers. With many of them, we discussed how to move forward, and such scenarios often emerged. Maybe I haven't been lucky so far. Then I compared how much time I spent on these conversations and thought about how much useful work could have been done during that time, so I started initiating such conversations less frequently. However, I am, of course, open to reasonable discussions if they arise in the future.

> Have you looked into porting the concept of the public benefit corporation from the US to Germany?

We are in Germany, at least for production.

> Have you asked the grant organizations that you talked to for critical feedback and letting them know you're fine with whatever they say? They would know more than this forum I'm guessing.

About a hundred grant organizations, including CZI, BMGF, Berkshire, Open Philanthropy, simply declined and, unfortunately, did not respond to my request for the reasons for the rejection. Several small funds told me that they are simply not interested in funding it because they have more interesting projects. When I asked for an example of a more interesting project, unfortunately, I did not receive a response. So, I can provide a list of grant organizations that declined my requests in PM, but I have never received a response as to why they declined. Clearly, we tried to write proposals in various variations, often it was still the very first grant proposal of 1-2 pages.

> Why aren't you trying to make money selling your MRI in rich countries first, then use profits to subsidize a cheaper version for poorer countries?

Obviously, we do not have FDA approval yet, and we have not perfected everything to start the FDA and similar approvals.

> You could consider selling to the US, German, or Ukraine militaries as likely customers to start.

Of course, I have tried. Maybe I haven't been lucky so far because I have communicated with 50+ people on this topic, many of them initiated the conversation, but the discussion ended on the 2-3 emails or was sent to some people who did not respond. If you can assist, I would be very grateful.

> My wild guess, based on limited info, at risk of overconfidence, since you asked for what might be the case, is that you have too idealistic a self-image that is preventing you from participating in the normal market processes that would create a positive and self-sustaining financial feedback loop that would allow you to finance sales to poorer countries. I would guess a priori that you should lean into being profit-driven and focus on establishing any demand at all for the product any way you can before offering it at cost or at a loss to poorer countries.

As I mentioned, we are currently funding this project from our own resources, and we are progressing slowly. We are open to any reasonable discussions if they are also commercially beneficial to us. We are also open to conducting research with a full report if we receive a grant.

but with venture capital, this equipment will never be inexpensive

Why do you believe this? How many VCs have you talked to about whether they'd be fine with the lower-cost version you want?

Have you looked into porting the concept of the public benefit corporation from the US to Germany?

Have you asked the grant organizations that you talked to for critical feedback and letting them know you're fine with whatever they say? They would know more than this forum I'm guessing.

Why aren't you trying to make money selling your MRI in rich countries first, then use profits to subsidize a cheaper version for poorer countries? If your product actually works and is good then I don't see why it wouldn't be a good product for everyone. You could consider selling to the US, German, or Ukraine militaries as likely customers to start.

My wild guess, based on limited info, at risk of overconfidence, since you asked for what might be the case, is that you have too idealistic a self-image that is preventing you from participating in the normal market processes that would create a positive and self-sustaining financial feedback loop that would allow you to finance sales to poorer countries. I would guess a priori that you should lean into being profit-driven and focus on establishing any demand at all for the product any way you can before offering it at cost or at a loss to poorer countries.

Do let me know if I am wrong in any way, don't hesitate to correct me!