Seattle-based health records software company Valant is looking to continue its growth after increasing its headcount by 50% over the past year and a half.
Since the start of 2021, says Valant CEO Ram Krishnan, the company has gone from about 60 employees to about 90, and about three-quarters of the staff based in the Seattle area. He added that the company would love to eventually have 200 employees, but that likely wouldn't happen for years.
"Our primary hiring is in Seattle," Krishnan said. "We've built a core team in Seattle. We've retained a lot of core talent over the years that are fundamental to delivering that mission and that purpose, and we're building around them."
Valant, founded in 2005, provides electronic health records software for behavioral health practices. The software offers services in documenting, assessments, billing and scheduling, among others. Behavioral health practices have differing needs from those of primary care providers, the company says. Krishnan said one example is handling the complexities around insurance and billing with group therapy, a common practice in mental health not found in most medical practices.
Valant received an investment from the private equity firm Gemspring Capital in 2019. Gemspring brought on Krishnan in October 2020. Using capital from Gemspring, Krishnan said Valant hired engineers, product managers, and sales and marketing personnel. Krishnan called the investment and hiring basic "blocking and tackling" to help with the company's growth.
Despite having most of its employees in the Seattle area, Valant works mostly remote. Krishnan said managers decide how often employees should come in, and most in-person work is for meeting and collaboration. Valant has office space in the Denny Triangle area. According to Krishnan, the company doesn't plan to add or shed office space but is looking to make its space more collaborative.
"We've done lots of surveys of our workforce. Do they want to be in the office? Do they want to be at home? It's pretty overwhelming —everyone wants to work from home," Krishnan said. "It's also overwhelming that everyone wants to get together and wants to collaborate in person at times."
