A Middle Tennessee telehealth company has secured some fresh capital, part of which will be used to nearly double its headcount by the end of the year.
Franklin-based VisuWell Inc. has raised $10.1 million of a possible $12.2 million round of funding, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
CEO Gerry Andrady said in an interview that the round is oversubscribed, with the remaining $2 million expected to close by the end of the month. Atlanta-based Fulcrum Equity Partners invested the $10.1 million portion of the round.
Founded in Chattanooga in 2011, VisuWell’s telehealth platform can be tailored to an organization’s needs and offers services ranging from consults, to telehealth triage, to remote patient monitoring. The platform also allows organizations to use their own provider networks.
VisuWell, which moved its headquarters to Franklin in 2017, has more than 60 enterprise customers and supports thousands of telehealth visits each day, Andrady said.
The funds will be used for research and development and to nearly double the firm’s headcount from 23 employees. VisuWell has already grown its sales and marketing teams, Andrady said, and is hiring for its research and development division.
“What was really exciting about Fulcrum is they got the message right away and understood why we’re different,” Andrady said. “There’s a lot of companies in this space. There’s a lot of money pouring into this space, because there’s a lot of opportunity to use technology to fill [care] gaps. … We’ve been in the space even pre-pandemic. We understand virtual care and we are bringing a solution that’s not just telehealth. …M y background is on the product side and I understand that we need to invest heavily, in terms of features and enhancing the product to deliver on the demands of the health care system.”
Andrady was named CEO of VisuWell in April of last year, after a video of then-CEO Sam Johnson harassing teenagers on their way to prom made national headlines. Andrady was previously VisuWell’s president and chief operating officer.
Prior to joining VisuWell, Andrady co-founded Nashville-based data science company Medalogix and was chief technology officer and Nashville-based ObjectiveGI, according to his LinkedIn page.
Andrady said Fulcrum Equity Partners is an ideal investor because of their health care expertise — and the firm is certainly well known among Nashville health care startups. Most recently, the firm led an $11 million round of funding for HomeFirst Home Healthcare just last month, which followed a $26 million capital raise into Stratasan LLC in 2019.
“The explosion in demand for telemedicine has been a catalyst for accelerated growth of virtual care solutions and has sparked a growing need for hospital systems to offer proven digital health platforms to care for all of their patients,” Fulcrum Equity Partners founder and partner Jeff Muir said in an emailed statement. “VisuWell has emerged as a leader in redefining how — and where — healthcare is delivered. We are very impressed with Gerry and the team and thrilled to partner with them as they continue to scale their solution and drive meaningful change in digital healthcare.”
