Roland Achenjang was working as a pharmacy director in Sidney, Montana, when he first started tackling industry issues as an unofficial intrapreneur.
He always had a bit of an entrepreneurial streak, going back to school to get an MBA in health care management after getting his doctor of pharmacy degree.
"As a young pharmacist, I did not see myself just working in a hospital as a staff pharmacist until I retired," Achenjang said. "I knew I could do more."
In his four years as pharmacy director, Achenjang oversaw an independent retail pharmacy, long-term care pharmacy, an inpatient pharmacy, an outpatient pharmacy and nursing infusion center and a durable medical equipment business, learning how health care systems communicate with each other in the process.
But there was one system he thought was archaic.
To remain in compliance with the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, pharmacies have had to track and record all controlled substances that come through their doors.
They manually documented every filled prescription, every order and every expired drug in a paper logbook. And in spite of the great technology advancements we've seen over the last two decades, that process has remained unchanged, even as the opioid crisis has caused the Drug Enforcement Agency to increase diversion investigations.
"It worked, but when you think about the future of health care, pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are really busy. We're trying to keep up with changing regulations, take care of the patient and then run a business efficiently," Achenjang said. "I saw a lot of inefficiencies in keeping a manual log in the 21st century and a lot of potential for human error. It just created a situation where there were more silos than there needed to be in this particular workflow of handling, purchasing and dispensing controlled substances."
So in 2018, Achenjang began working with a Croatian developer to build the prototype for C2 Keep, which would ultimately take shape as a digital solution for inventory management and compliance. The software is specifically for the handling of Schedule II Controlled Substances otherwise known as CII drugs — hence how C2 Keep got its name.
Achenjang went full-time with the venture in August 2020 after his wife got into medical school at the University of Louisville. The couple moved to Louisville — back to Achenjang's home state of Kentucky — and he used C2 Keep's working prototype to open a family-focused fundraising round.
"I told them this is what I wanted to do. They were concerned: 'You're not going to work? You're going to be doing this and your wife is in medical school and you have a baby coming?'" Achenjang said. "I said, 'If I'm going to do this, I need to be in it 100%. I can't tell the universe I want this and then half-ass it or just shift my energies between things.' So they gave me money."
C2 Keep has secured $250,000 in venture dollars so far, including investment from Keyhorse Capital. The startup also partnered with Slingshot Ventures, which has been aiding in the development of the platform since April 2021. It launched in beta in January, before its public launch in March.
"The beta customers absolutely loved it," Achenjang said. "I was a little teary-eyed. It was emotional... like I had this idea and I built something and people are using it and the visceral reaction from them is really one of appreciation."
Coming off the public launch, C2 Keep recently announced its first major integration with Liberty Software, a Texas-based company that offers a pharmacy management platform for retail and long-term care pharmacies.
Integrating with existing pharmacy management systems is key, Achenjang said, although pharmacies can use C2 Keep's platform as a standalone solution.
"If you talk to any customer who is using C2 Keep today, they'll tell you, 'OK Roland, I can't wait for it to be integrated because then that's just the Holy Grail,'" Achenjang said. "We're excited for this. We want to let people know that we're serious about improving the way people manage their controlled substances inventory. We want to digitize all of it and eliminate the paper process."
C2 Keep currently has five clients, and while it's a good start, Achenjang said he and his team are quickly looking to add more via marketing efforts. As a result, the company aims to raise more capital this year.
