A Nashville executive, who was the chief financial officer at HealthStream for more than 11 years, is joining a local startup.
Gerry Hayden has been named the first CFO at Brentwood-based health-tech firm Luci, according to a news release.
Hayden worked as CFO at HealthStream — one of Nashville’s largest publicly traded health care companies, with more than $244 million of revenue last year — from 2008 until 2019 and was on the company’s board of directors.
Prior to HealthStream, Hayden held leadership positions at several health care companies, including Allied Clinical Laboratories, Medavant Health, Covation and Meridian Occupational Health, according to the release. He is currently a partner at Nashville-based TechCXO and is executive chairman of the board at Nashville-based Angel Eye Health.
“We are thrilled to bring Gerry onto our growing team and to benefit from his rich experience and background within the healthcare technology companies,” Barry Dean, CEO and co-founder of Luci, said in the release. “We continue to be very encouraged by the eager adoption of Luci’s technology across the mobility industry. As we look to continue our growth, Gerry’s valuable insights will help guide Luci’s strategy and decision-making during this important chapter for our company.”
Luci was launched in June 2020 by Dean, a Grammy-nominated Nashville songwriter, and his brother Jered to help powered wheelchair users avoid collisions and drop-offs. The device mounts to a wheelchair and uses sensor-fusion technology — the same tech that is used for autonomous driving — as well as cameras and radar to provide riders a safer experience while maintaining control of the chair.
Luci has inked several partnerships since launching to get its technology on wheelchairs nationwide, including a distribution deal in December with Brentwood-based Numotion, the nation’s largest provider of mobility, health and personal independence products.
“Having spent significant time with both a large, publicly-traded healthcare company and smaller health-tech start-ups, I’m excited to join Luci during such a unique time in their growth phase,” Hayden said in the release. “We are confident in the business plan and technology that helps bring smart and connected wheelchairs into this underserved sector of the market and that is very exciting. This team has laid an impressive foundation in just a few years, and I am honored for the opportunity to help Luci reach new levels of growth and success.”
