A Louisville-area startup is expanding in a big way — and plans to double its workforce by the end of the year.
RxLightning is a platform which streamlines the specialty drug enrollment process for both doctors and patients, reducing paperwork and cutting enrollment times from weeks to hours. The digitized, single solution, which is free for providers and patients, supports more than 1,200 specialty medications, helping patients get access to the treatments they need even faster.
By the end of the year, officials there are expecting employment of about 40 people, Julia Regan, co-founder and CEO, told me in a recent interview. That would mean it has doubled its workforce this year, as the company started 2022 with less than 20 on its staff.
The company was founded in 2020. To date, it has raised nearly $10 million. It recently announced it would add 175 new jobs over several years, as we previously reported.
Moving into a new headquarters
RxLightning is moving into a three-story building at 227 Pearl Street in New Albany. It was previously an entirely remote organization, with a bulk of its workforce in the Kentuckiana region.
It will occupy the top two floors and the bottom floor will be an event space. RxLightning is leasing the space from Ross and Diana Wallace, the couple behind Him and Her Boutique. RxLightning’s space will be about 8,000 square feet.
The building, which is being restored to maintain its historic character, was previously a residential home. The Wallaces are handling the renovations. Regan hopes to move the workforce in by the beginning of 2023.
“We met with them very early on in their acquisition of the property to really talk about what we needed and what type of space that we were looking to bring in and the types of jobs. [And] they designed it around us, our organization,” Regan said.
The renovations will make the office an open environment to foster flexible work and facilitate strong collaboration. It will include private space for leaders and conference rooms throughout.
As the pandemic eases and in-person meetings resume, Regan said it was important to have a central location to hire and develop from as the company enters a growth phase. It also was important to have a common place to hold meetings, host clients and workshops.
Sticking with New Albany
She chose New Albany due to its convenience and being able to partner with the city as well as the state of Indiana to get tax incentives, she said.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. will commit an investment in RxLightning of up to $4 million in conditional tax credits based on the company’s job creation plans, according to a news release. The tax credits are performance-based, meaning RxLightning is eligible to claim incentives once Hoosiers are hired. In addition, the City of New Albany offered RxLightning training grants totaling $120,000 that will be equally divided over five years.
The 175 new jobs include positions in product development, marketing and sales, customer service and account management. I asked Regan why now was the time to increase the workforce in this way.
“We've identified that our platform and product is really helping solve an industry need and really helping patients get on therapies quicker,” Regan said. “Because of that, we've got large provider groups that are coming on very quickly to the platform as users as well as we're creating this ecosystem of connectivity to specialty pharmacies and drug manufacturers. As we bring on more and more partners to that ecosystem, we need a team to be able to carry our mission and our message forward to support the growth.”
Though industries across the board are citing workforce challenges, Regan said she is confident in being able to hire for these roles, noting the company is able to offer opportunities to individuals who may not have had such opportunities before. She said the Louisville region is health care focused which offers a greater talent pool to pull employees from.
“While there’s always those challenges, I think that we will be able to navigate them,” she said.
