Richmond health tech startup Kamana is getting a boost thanks to a recent acquisition by Triage, a Midwest-based medical staffing company.
Kamana, founded in Richmond in 2018, is a software platform that connects traveling nurses and other health care professionals to jobs. Last spring, as American cities fought waves of Covid-19 cases, the startup helped hospitals fill a critical need for health care workers and assisted in getting furloughed professionals back to work.
The acquisition, of which the financial terms have not been disclosed, was announced on March 4. Kamana cofounder Dave Dworschak said though it was not something they'd foreseen from the start, it made sense due to a long-standing relationship with Triage.
Dworschak said Kamana was introduced to Triage during its participation in Lighthouse Labs' accelerator program.
"The crew there was very receptive to the idea that the industry needs some intense innovation," he said. "Over the past two years, we've really worked toward bringing them on as a customer ... As we got closer to that, it lined up with some conversations around funding, but we realized we should do it together and leverage each other's expertise."
Triage, an Omaha, Nebraska-based medical staffing company, will start implementing Kamana's platform as its candidate-facing portal over the next few months. The platform will allow medical professionals to build a profile that includes contact, licensing and credential information, as well as manage assignment preferences and apply for jobs.
In a an open letter, the Kamana cofounders Dworschak, John Modica and Kiere El-Shafie vowed to uphold the company's promise of privacy and secure access made to its own customers at the very beginning.
"We'll continue to operate the company autonomously," Dworschak told Inno. "Triage doesn't have access to customerf data, and that will remain in place. There's already a lot of mistrust in the market, so we're being forward about the commitments we're making."
"One thing that was important to all of us was that we, as Kamana, have no interest in solving problems for just one staffing agency. To solve the industry problems, we need to remain open and neutral," he added.
John Maaske, Triage CEO, said in a statement that he considers Kamana's compliance and creditialing platform to be best-in-class, giving Triage a better opportunity to serve its own customer base.
"Tracking compliance information is critical to our business, and that process will ultimately run more smoothly with Kamana's technology, benefitting both travelers and the facilities we work with," he said.
Erin Powell, executive director of Lighthouse Labs, said she and her team are proud and excited about Kamana's big news. The startup was a member of the Richmond accelerator's fall 2019 cohort.
"[They] joined Lighthouse Labs with a great idea and a desire to make major change in the field of health care staffing, and they grew from first customers during the cohort to acquisition within 18 months," she said. "Lighthouse Labs is proud to have been among the first investors in Kamana in 2019 and to celebrate its continue success in 2021 and beyond."
Dworschak said he, Modica and El-Shafie have no plans to leave the company.
"My cofounders and I will remain on-board for the foreseeable future," he said. "We got into the market to solve problems, and there are a lot of problems still to be solved."
