A growing Phoenix robotics startup is making an acquisition.
Phoenix-based robotic process automation startup qBotica is acquiring Healthomation Inc. in a move that builds upon the company’s rapid growth.
With the addition of Healthomation, qBotica plans to expand in the health care sector by leveraging the New Jersey-based company’s artificial intelligence and machine learning software to boost efficiency, automation and patient care. Healthomation’s software hastens the process in which patient insurance information is sent to a clearinghouse for automated bulk verification of benefit and procedure eligibility.
“Our investment in Healthomation Inc. represents a pivotal moment for qBotica, as we align ourselves with a cutting-edge company that shares our commitment to innovation and excellence,” said qBotica CEO Mahesh Vinayagam.
“The small and medium enterprises within the provider segment of health care could use (the software) to really do this faster," he said.
Healthomation CEO Selvaraj Murugaiyan will join qBotica as a senior vice president of the company. The acquisition will take place in stages and is slated for completion by the second quarter of 2024.
Some 30 to 40 Healthomation employees will join qBotica, bringing the combined company’s total workforce to more than 210 based in the U.S., India and South America.
qBotica sees ‘turbocharged’ growth
qBotica developed a robotic process automation and document processing platform designed to automate manual office tasks like typing on a keyboard or clicking a mouse. The company's platform also leverages AI to analyze documents and extracts data for processing, allowing businesses to improve efficiency.
Vinayagam founded qBotica in 2017 and bootstrapped the company prior to raising $1 million in a seed funding round led by Tysons Corner, Virginia-based venture capital firm Peacock Ventures.
Vinayagam told the Business Journal in 2021 the company was generating millions in annual revenue via its business-to-business robotic process automation software tools, which gained traction among several Fortune 500 clients.
Since raising the seed round, qBotica increased its number of employees from 30 to more than 180, Vinayagam said.
While Vinayagam did not disclose specifics on qBotica's financial performance, he said the company has tripled its revenue since 2021.
“We were fortunate to work with customers and we eventually did a subscription-based model and were able to sign up two- and three-year subscriptions,” Vinayagam said. "So the customers paid ahead and had confidence in us.”
The company was a finalist in AZ Inno’s 2023 Fire Awards, which honors fast-growing and innovative startups in Arizona. It was also twice a finalist in AZ Inno’s annual Inno Madness competition.
Also, qBotica sees future opportunity to broaden its reach in the conversational AI market as well as build upon its DoqumentAI product, which automatically extracts data from documents or images.
"When we started out six years ago, B2B was almost nothing like this. … Everyone's talking about AI," Vinayagam said. “So there's no excuse for us to really turbocharge the company and grow three or four times and look at it in organic ways. Basically, this would be the right time."
