OP's Bardavon raises $90M Series C round

Bardavon Health Innovations has checked off a notable milestone – raising $90 million in Series C funding.

"It's a lot of emotions," founder and CEO Matthew Condon said. "It's been a dream and a vision and a mission of not just mine, (but) from the very beginning there were people that shared this with me. We were all expecting the same outcome."

Although Bardavon hasn't yet accomplished all of its goals, the new funding provides a real opportunity to fulfill them, he said. Every dollar will be focused on Bardavon's growth.

The round was led by investment management firm Matrix Capital Management and joined by growth equity firm WestCap Group.

The Overland Park-based workers’ compensation and musculoskeletal (MSK) company changed its organizational structure from an LLC to a C corporation on Tuesday. It plans to use the funding to roll out new services and offerings, expedite go-to-market activities and grow its employee base. During the next 18 months, Condon projected that the head count will increase by 50% or more. Bardavon employs more than 220 people. New hires will fill roles across the board, including in sales, operations and technology.

Bardavon already has added notable names to its team. In July, the company announced that it hired a former longtime Cerner Corp. executive as its new CFO. Ed Enyeart spent 26 years at Cerner and most recently was senior vice president of client financial operations.

Former Cerner President Zane Burke also joined Bardavon’s board this year. He also previously led Livongo, which developed technology to improve care for patients with chronic conditions.

Beyond Enyart, new executive hires over the past several months have included:

"We've put together an incredibly strong executive leadership team," Condon said. "We've rounded it out in the last several months to prepare for this moment. ... We recruited ahead so that when the capital came in, we're not preparing. We're going."

Bardavon's data and technology can be used to improve patient outcomes, while creating a return on investment for payers and employers. Its solutions are based on analyses of workers’ comp claims and physical and occupational therapy data. In addition to helping employers get the best care for employees, Bardavon helps providers in its nationwide network learn about the most successful treatments.

The 2021 Champions of Business honoree has 90% national physical therapy network coverage in 50 states. Last year, Bardavon's revenue soared 70%.

In the workers’ compensation category, Bardavon has trimmed costs per claim for first-year employees by 83% and lowered the number of physical therapy visits by 21%. Overall spend shrunk by 49%.

Matrix Capital Management views Bardavon’s focus on MSK-related injuries as a big opportunity. Every week, U.S. companies spend more than $1 billion on MSK injuries.

“Our research shows that America’s largest employers are desperate for a viable MSK health, wellness and care solution,” Matrix Senior Managing Director Karan Takhar said in the release. “Bardavon and their MSK health solutions upend the current marketplace model. Their solutions bring desperately needed transparency, innovation and relevant clinical treatment data to positively impact MSK care for all.”

Bardavon has proved that it can positively affect patient outcomes while decreasing costs, and now it has a responsibility to do that on a bigger level and expand beyond workers' compensation, Condon said.

"I'm so thankful for the people in this community and beyond that were there for us. ... This is really a Kansas City story," he said. "There were so many people that were supporters and investors to get us to this point. There should be a lot of people in Kansas City being proud of themselves today because they made it happen. ... This (Series C) isn't the definition of success for us. This is the next step on the path. We'll certainly celebrate this a little, but we're also supremely cognizant that we've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."