Billy Evans wants $50 million for his new health testing company Haemanthus. Evans, who has two children with imprisoned Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, plans to start with pet testing before moving to human health services.

The Austin-based company employs about a dozen people, mostly from Evans’ old workplace Luminar Technologies. They started by seeking $3.5 million from friends and family. This spring, they began asking for $15 million more from investors in Austin and San Francisco.

When asked about the company, Evans it brief: “When you’re in stealth, you’re trying to be in stealth. They aren’t going to find anything associated with the name Haemanthus.”

Their testing device uses light detection (Raman spectroscopy) to look at blood, saliva, and urine samples. The company says it can check things like glucose and hormones in seconds. They got a patent for this in January.

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The machine looks like a box with:

• A door in front
• A screen for display
• Lasers inside
• Software that uses AI to read test results
• Programs to spot cancer and infections

Big investors aren’t jumping in. Venture capitalist James W. Breyer turned them down flat: “In diagnostics, we’ve long held that the difference between a compelling story and a great company lies in scientific defensibility and clinical utility.”

Michael Dell’s investment group said no too. Right now, they’ve got one public investor: Matthew E. Parkhurst, who owns part of an Austin tapas bar.

There’s confusion about who oversees this type of testing. The company’s papers say there’s “no regulatory oversight.” But USDA spokesman Seth W. Christensen says they do control vet testing, including blood work.

Evans showed some paperwork saying one USDA office won’t regulate them. But that might not cover all the rules they need to follow.

Elizabeth Holmes provides advice to Evans from her prison cell, where she’s serving 11 years for fraud at Theranos. She told People magazine she’s writing patents in prison and wants to work in biotech again when she gets out. She can’t have an official job at Haemanthus – the SEC won’t allow it.

Pet testing makes big money. Cancer screening for pets brings in billions each year. Banking firm Edgemont Partners calls it “recession-proof.”

Haemanthus wants to make their device smaller – about the size of a postage stamp – for people to wear. They think this will take three years and $70 million.

They say they have roughly two dozen advisers helping them, including vets and testing experts, but won’t name names.

All this happens while Holmes just lost her appeal in court. The health testing business keeps a close eye on this new company, remembering what happened with Theranos.