Meet Dr Daniel Tillett.

In late 2019, Dr Daniel Tillett, a biotech expert and investor, joined the board of Race Oncology. Despite expectations of a discount raise, he did something different: he invested at a premium. Since then, he’s raised $30m in a shareholder-driven round and never sold a single share.

I first met Daniel back in 2019 when he was an active micro-cap investor. Unlike most investors who invest in the code, Daniel invests in the company—its purpose, mission, and the future it is creating. He’s someone who truly digs into the story behind the company, which is rare in today’s market.

In late 2019, Daniel made a bold move: he invested in and joined the board of, Race Oncology.

He also came with strong (1) subject matter expertise, (2) a name and brand in the micro-cap space and (3) was willing to put in money and time to the company. With this combination, you would expect that Daniel would’ve invested at a big discount.

But Daniel flipped the script and invested at a premium.

This was just the beginning of Daniel’s innovative approach to shareholder engagement.

Since then, he has:

• Engaged with investors directly on HotCopper, spending up to two days a week in conversation with them.
• Invested in every funding round since joining the company.
• Opted for an SPP (share purchase plan) over institutional placements, raising $30m directly from shareholders.
• Never sold a single share.

Pretty bold, right? But it gets better…

The loyalty option with a twist.

In late 2023, as the CEO of Race Oncology, Daniel devised a new approach to capital raising.

Instead of going with a traditional capital raise, they introduced a loyalty option structure to existing shareholders. At the time, the share price was $0.90. The offer:

1. Shareholders received a 1:20 free loyalty option, discounted to $0.75 with a six-month strike.
2. For every exercised option, shareholders received 3 additional options at $1.25, exercisable over two years.

That brought the weighted exercise price to $1.125—25% above the existing share price at the time. No fees, and minimal dilution, and only those not participating felt the dilution impact.

It worked like a charm.

How it played out.

The first tranche recently closed, with the share price above $1.50, effectively doubling the money for shareholders who exercised. Unsurprisingly, 84% of holders participated, raising $5m seamlessly.

On top of that, there’s now $25m in options out there, currently in the money, available to fund further projects in 2026. This future proves Race, giving it access to new capital without having to rely on the traditional, and often discounted, placement model.

The best part? Shareholders feel valued and rewarded for their loyalty.

In preparation for this article, I sent Daniel a few questions about this raise. As always, he was refreshingly candid and open about the process. I have left his responses unedited.

Interview with Dr Daniel Tillett.

Ben: Daniel, thanks for taking the time here. As you can see I have laid out the run as I saw it, but would love to hear first hand - why did you choose this method to raise capital and not the traditional models of a placements, rights issue or SPP?

Daniel: The reason why is we really wanted to reward our shareholders for their patience after all the drama of 2023. Race had a change in management in early 2023 who with the support of the board at the time, decided to change the strategic direction of the company. I stepped down from the board and management in March 2023. Unfortunately, the new strategy released by the new management was not well received by the market and the share price fell to 75c by August 2023 from over $2.25 in early 2023. After a number of resignations from the board and management, I came back to Race as an advisor to help stabilise the situation and develop a strategy that was viable within the limitations of the Australian market. I stepped into the CEO role in November 2023 and we launched our current strategy and option issue.

Ben: What was the response like from investors?

Daniel: The short answer was scepticism. They had just experienced a revolving door of management and board members, three different strategies within 6 months, a 70% fall in the share price. The shareholders were right to be angry and sceptical about the company. I don’t think a conventional raise done in November 2023 would have been well received.

Ben: You made the first tranche of the option a discount to the market. Why a discount and not parity or more? Do you think it would have worked, or been received, the same if you made it a slight premium from the start?

Daniel: If the shareholder mood was better we may have been able to offer the options at a higher strike price, but at the time many shareholders felt that even 75c was too high. I was confident that as our shareholders saw the drama of 2023 was behind us and that we were delivering on our promises, that optimism would return. Ultimately, since the options were given equally to all existing shareholders the price was less important than in a raise to new investors.

Ben: It is done now, and looks to be working really well. If another ASX CEO came to you today and was looking to repeat it, have there been any learnings since you would recommend incorporating into the plan?

Daniel: If you support and look after your shareholders they will look after the company. If you have done the groundwork of building engagement and have demonstrated through actions and not just words that you are looking after their interests, then they will be willing to fund what you want to accomplish.

Ben: And finally - what are you using the funds for?

Daniel: We have earmarked the funds to support an investigator sponsored Phase 1/2 clinical trial in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) using our newly reformulated drug RC220 bisantrene. This is a very cost effective way of undertaking clinical research and supports our primary focus on using RC220 bisantrene as an anticancer and cardioprotective drug for use with doxorubicin, the most widely used chemotherapeutic.

Links:

Bonus options prospectus: https://announcements.raceoncology.com/announcements/5437207

Bonus options results: https://announcements.raceoncology.com/announcements/6370280