Centennial Investors helps fund Nasopure expansion

BeWell Health, LLC, a local company that makes the Nasopure nasal washing device, has received funding for an expansion from “angel investors” within the Centennial Investors organization and from two physicians.

Nasopure’s founder, Dr. Hana Solomon, said members of Centennial Investors agreed to provide $152,384 in funding and other investors are providing $169,000. Sales of the Nasopure kits have doubled in the past few years, reaching 20,000 in 2007, and are projected to triple this year, Solomon, a Columbia pediatrician, said.The plastic bottles are made in Kansas City, the boxes are made in St. Louis and the products are assembled at a sheltered workshop in Columbia, Central Missouri Subcontracting Enterprises.

The funding, she said, will be used to “accelerate our business model,” including boosts in manufacturing, distribution and marketing of Nasopure products (www.nasopure.com) and launching new products. The company expanded into drug stores and other outlets in the Kansas City and Topeka markets two years ago and plans to move into St. Louis this year.

In December, Solomon teamed with The Incubation Factory of St. Louis, which is taking care of accounting and some other operational needs. Solomon hired George Zimny as director of sales a year ago and hired Mark Larsen as vice president of business development in January.

Centennial Investors was founded by the Columbia Chamber of Commerce in 2006, its centennial anniversary, to meet the early capital needs of University of Missouri and private sector entrepreneurs. Centennial Investors recently agreed to provide funding for Equinosis, a company created by an MU associate professor that is seeking to commercialize a technology for objectively evaluating lameness in horses.