One of Australia's richest men, former Macquarie Group chief executive and Reserve Bank board member Allan Moss, has backed health devices developer Atomo Diagnostics in its new equity raising.
Atomo, which is not listed on the share market, said on Thursday that it had raised $4.5 million from professional investors, including the New York-based Global Health Investment Fund (GHIF) and a company associated with Mr Moss.
Mr Moss joins billionaire property developer Lang Walker as a shareholder in Sydney-based Atomo.
Mr Moss's stake amounts to about three per cent of Atomo.
Lang Walker, an early investor in Atomo, holds about 23 per cent.
The latest equity funding follows GHIF's loan of $7.8 million to Atomo.
GHIF has about 8.4 per cent, and Atomo's founding shareholders, which include chief executive John Kelly, hold around 41 per cent.
Atomo, which was established in 2010, has developed a platform aimed at enabling quick and affordable point-of-care and consumer diagnostics.
"Atomo has developed a remarkably user-friendly and accurate testing device which has the potential to assist greatly in detecting HIV and other diseases in Africa and globally," Mr Moss said in a statement.
Atomo boss John Kelly said a listing of Atomo on the share market was a possibility.
"We set up the business to deliver returns to shareholders and a listing is one of the potential ways to do that," Mr Kelly told AAP.
"Obviously we are mindful that our technology is quite disruptive and could be worth a lot of money to a larger company that wants to upgrade their technology.
"So for us, a listing or an M&A (merger and acquisition) are both highly feasible."
Atomo's valuation after the latest equity raising is around $30 million.
