In this episode we speak to Dr Georgia Fleet, CEO and Co-Founder of Zonova, a medtech company working to help prevent the infections associated with medical devices and hospitalisation. A large proportion of hospital-acquired infections originate on the medical devices that deliver care, such as IV lines and ventilator tubing. Zonova’s purpose is a simple one: you shouldn't go into hospital and come out more ill.
Georgia explains that devices come sterile, but sterility ends the second you open the packet. Bacteria are everywhere, and they'll happily attach to a device sitting inside a patient. That's the opening for an infection to start. To solve this problem, Zonova’s Z-ROS® additive is embedded into devices during the manufacturing process. While their competitors often fight microbes by adding a silver coating to the device, Georgia emphasises that “this is not another silver coating.”
On the business side, Georgia talks about Zonova’s journey from its founding as a scrappy startup to now, with a full team, a dedicated lab, and patents in process. She describes how they have scaled by pivoting from manufacturing to B2B intellectual property licensing. The conversation also delves into about the patent process and FDA requirements, and the decision to keep the team in-person rather than going remote.
As a leader, Georgia reflects on her own shift from working alone as a scientist to leading and communicating with a growing team. She is also candid about the role of persistence in Zonova’s success: repeated applications, repeated conversations, and knowing when a “no” means “not yet.”
Check out the Zonova website.
Many thanks to Sarah Turner, CEO of Angel Academe, for suggesting this conversation!
Supported by Norman Broadbent.
Georgia Fleet
