Sean Fetcho got into the startup space after working with the pharmaceutical industry, where he saw an increased reliance on prescription medicine for pain management.
"We all know what happened with pain management and opioids; these types of prescription medicines are dangerous," Fetcho said. "We thought, 'How do we get into the alternative, evidence-based treatments to help them?' We have 100 million people suffering from chronic pain in the U.S. alone."
After launching his company Verséa in 2018, which provides hemp-based to physicians that see and treat pain, Fetcho and his team once again found themselves wanting to create a solution for a mass health care crisis. This time, it was the coronavirus pandemic. In February 2020, Fetcho himself got coronavirus, and in March, he and his team began working 18-hour days until June to create Covid-19 tests.
"When Covid hit, it was a very easy transition to take this on because doctors [who were our clients] were trying to get back to work," Fetcho said. "They needed to test patients and test themselves. Now, our mission is twofold: It's how do we solve the opioid epidemic? And second is, how do you mitigate risk around a growing pandemic?"
That testing kit can now test for the Delta variant and other variants, Fetcho says, along with additional combination testing solutions for the flu and other infectious diseases. It was rolled out for the NCAA Final Four competition last March across all four locations for staff and players as needed. And because one of Verséa's lab partners is in Indianapolis, the company got a deal with the Indiana Pacers.
While many have begun to consider Covid-19 a thing of the past, with the return to work and school — and a new variant on the rise — Fetcho sees demand for his tests now more than ever.
"It was unbelievable demand in October when rapid antigen testing was approved," he said. "What happened in May and June is people got really relaxed thinking the world is vaccinated, we're OK. But now we’re seeing increases in testing again — that started in mid-June."
Fetcho said he is seeking to raise a $2 million convertible note to solely help research and development. It's all a bit unusual for the Tampa Bay region, which has yet to become a pharmaceutical mecca. But Fetcho, who moved from New York in 2020, believes he can build the region's presence.
"When I decided to launch and build Verséa, it was, 'How can we do this?' but also in a new and up-and-coming city," he said, adding his grandparents and sister had ties to the Tampa Bay area. "But it is a challenge — we come from the mecca of the pharmaceutical world, which is New Jersey and New York. It was a challenge in that we do have trouble finding talent or expertise in the pharmaceutical area, but we are unique in that we're not a traditional pharmaceutical company."
Verséa is entirely self-funded with 15 full-time employees and roughly 65 total employees between contracted consultants and shareholders. Fetcho hopes to hire another five to 10 employees by the end of the year and works with the University of Tampa and University of South Florida to fill Verséa's intern program.
"You're seeing this great migration, and [the universities] are seeing the same thing," Fetcho said. "People would go there and then decide, 'I'm staying here.' You're getting a higher retention rate. I do think the talent pool will continue to grow locally."
