Dublin’s Medpoint – creating relationships and laying the foundation for future growth

“2023 has been a good year for us,” said Neil Brown, director of Medpoint. “Last year was putting all the building blocks together for the business. This year has been getting out and generating the sales needed to grow the business and get ourselves to scale.”

It’s been a busy but fruitful year for Medpoint, the all-Ireland distributor of physio, diagnostic and healthcare products used by the medical profession. 2023 has been about focusing on putting in place distribution agreements with high-quality manufacturers.

It is now partnered with three major Spanish manufacturers, including Orliman, one of the top names in the marketplace, which specialises in bracing and orthopaedic supports. Other companies include Garcia1880, which specialises in products for elderly people and those with disabilities, and then Fresco, which specialises in foot care.

These partnerships are incredibly important for Medpoint as they mean it can offer more high-quality products from respected brands.

“Having them puts us on a different footing because it provides us with high-quality products for a growing customer base,” he said. “These agreements all take time to put in place but the good thing is because they’re such big companies, they have a lot of support in the background for us.

“They have marketing departments, logistic departments, freight departments, technical support – they have all those things in place, which makes it easier for you as a distributor to hit the ground running with those products and equipment.”

Significant advantages

With those manufacturing relationships in place and the infrastructure too – it recently added a trade showroom to the mix, where physios and other interested parties can come in and look at the products on offer – the current work is on building relationships with the physio and medical community.

Its location in south Dublin brings with it significant advantages, yet developing those relationships takes time. Those in the medical profession are highly experienced and making sure that the products Medpoint offer are right for them requires a lot of discussions.

While it takes time, Brown sees it as a benefit, as developing those relationships will stand to Medpoint in the long term.

The EIIS has been a consistent factor in Medpoint’s lifespan, having been part of it since 2021. For companies that specialise in devices in areas like MedTech, it takes more effort to get past the initial stages and develop a pathway towards revenue. EIIS has greatly helped it in its efforts to do that.

“The funding helps with the infrastructure to get the things set up and running, get our stock in place, get our logistics, get our showrooms in place,” he said. “We developed a nice trade showroom where retail and trade can come in and look at products and physios can drop in and get some idea where you are and what to do.

“Last year, we made a much greater effort with our website both in terms of time and spend to try and get the user experience more friendly and engaging. It’s a constant focus for us, adding new products, which now number in excess of 300 SKUs.

“We will look at a Series A funding round towards the end of next year” says Brown. “You could still say we’re still at the seed round, but we’re more established than what we were two years ago.”

For 2024, the goal is to “walk the talk”, said Brown. With premises, showrooms and a growing number of staff, the focus is to establish relationships in the greater Dublin region and beyond.

“We have our supplier manufacturers in place, we have our infrastructure in place, we’ve just got to go and make sure we capitalise on that,” he said.