Health IT startup Nymbl Systems Inc. is moving to Dublin, Ohio, from Lexington, Kentucky, because the vibrant Central Ohio tech community can help it reach a larger scale faster, the founder said.
Founder and CEO Josh Lau said in an interview he discovered "one of the best places to grow a startup" during due-diligence meetings with Tamarind Hill.
That Dublin venture capital firm a few weeks ago closed its investment to lead a still-open round, co-founder Partner Ben Trumbull said. But the firm didn't require the move.
"It just kind of happened," said Trumbull, based remotely in Ann Arbor. "We introduced them to a few people in our network and they realized the … powerful impact that could have on their scalability."
With two dozen employees now, Nymbl is hiring about seven this year. Company leadership and the bulk of hiring will be in Central Ohio.
Before this round, which Lau could not comment on, Nymbl had raised $5.7 million since its 2016 founding, Kentucky Inno reported in July. In 2018 it launched its practice management platform, including health record, billing, scheduling and patient reminders, that's specific to prosthetics and orthotic devices.
Lau started the company after consulting for a practice seeking off-the-shelf software. He couldn't find any that accommodated the specialty's particular Medicare regulations and other complexities. For example, Nymbl offers a template for custom fabrication of the devices.
Lexington is the hometown of Lau and co-founder COO Chad Feinberg. CFO Jon Bishop and others on the hybrid team are in Canton. Central Ohio is midway, and proximity to Chicago is a plus, Lau said.
Columbus also is home to another company that left Kentucky — fast-growing Beam Benefits, which moved from Louisville following a Drive Capital investment. The $2.2 billion Columbus VC firm and its local portfolio companies that have grown to hundreds of employees also made the region attractive.
The latest Central Ohio tech company to hit unicorn valuation, Branch Insurance, moved to Columbus after a data-driven search by its co-founders who lived in two different cities at the time.
"The Lexington infrastructure really supported ideation to pre-seed," Lau said. "After that, that’s where the city sort of fell short."
Meanwhile, Tamarind Hill was looking for a startup that could replicate its success with Updox, the Dublin health IT company co-founded by Tamarind Managing Partner Mark Shary. Updox was acquired in 2020 for $143 million cash.
Trumbull said he and Shary found Nymbl through market research, and were impressed with the experienced leadership team. It has a similar structure to Updox and shares its ability to expand beyond its starting niche, he said.
"We think there’s applications to other verticals, and we’d be able to help them with that," Trumbull said.
Next month Nymbl launches in another subspecialty of durable medical equipment, Lau said. Tamarind can be a strategic partner for achieving that progression.
"The dollars were the last thing we were looking for," Lau said. "They have a proven track record with scaling niche software."
The investors also introduced Lau to Mike Morgan, the former Updox CEO who's now investing and advising startups. He's become a "great resource" and key adviser.
"We have built a playbook that we hope to help companies execute against," Trumbull said. "It’s obviously their company. We try to lend experience to them to guide through some of the hurdles they’re going to face."
Lau actually moved his home to Phoenix a year ago to network with western and West Coast investors. He came close to landing a private equity deal before pulling out, deciding venture was a better route. VC takes an ownership stake, as opposed to PE debt, and typically investors are willing to wait longer for returns.
Some Nymbl employees already have closed on houses in Central Ohio, and Lau will move as soon as his home sells in Arizona.
