Psylo's US trip: why the psychedelics startup is keeping one foot in Australia as it expands stateside
After a US$8 million seed round, Sydney startup Psylo is shipping its headquarters to the US. But there’s a reason why American co-founder and CEO Joshua Ismin is staying put.
When Australia's therapeutics regulator last year announced it would allow psychiatrists to prescribe MDMA, the main active constituent of ecstasy, and psilocybin, found in magic mushrooms, it thrust Australia to the forefront of medicinal psychedelics.
At that point, Sydney biotech startup Psylo had only existed for two years but was already in the business of developing psychedelic-assisted therapy, eventually unveiling its flagship product PSYLO-100X, a non-hallucinogenic for depression and other mental health disorders.
Earlier this month, the company announced it had closed a fresh USD8 million ($12 million) seed round, as well as plans to take its headquarters to the US. The move will see its Australian co-founder and chief scientific officer Sam Banister move to the States, while its American co-founder and CEO Joshua Ismin will remain in Australia.
In this interview, Ismin spoke to Capital Brief about running the biotech like a software startup, the cartoon that encapsulates the struggles of pitching to US investors, and why he’s staying put in Sydney.
