Minneapolis health-tech company Billiyo was one of eight companies from across the U.S. to receive investment as part of the latest cohort of Indie.VC.
Founded by Hassan Abdullahi, Billiyo is developing an electronic health record system for in-home healthcare providers. It offers medical billing, scheduling, timecards, clinical documentation and other features to make it easier to care for patients in different environments.
In 2018, Billiyo was the runner-up in Minnesota Cup's High Tech Division. Abdullahi was also one of 10 local entrepreneurs selected to participate in Fueled Collective's Diverse Founders Fellowship last fall. Prior to starting Billiyo, Abdullahi also founded Gadiid Inc., a company offering software that manages logistics for small to mid-size trucking companies.
Indie.vc is a program designed to fund and support founders on a path to profitability. The firm believes that many businesses could flourish if they focused on revenue growth over raising another round of funding, which is typically a top priority for venture-backed startups. Indie.vc aims to be the last investment founders need to take.
The exact size of Indie's investment in Billiyo was not disclosed, but the firm said that its average investment check size for this cohort was around $400,000. Indie previously invested $350,000 in another Twin Cities company, Nice Healthcare.
In previous years, Indie has offered entrepreneurs at least two months to apply to their program. But this time around, the firm took a very different approach. It gave entrepreneurs just 24 hours between Jan. 1 and Jan. 2 to send in their application materials. It received just under 500 applications – about the same as the previous year.
Indie plans to distribute a second round of investments this fall.
"It's an interesting time to be announcing new investments," Indie said in a statement. " As more and more firms pull back their funding pace or pull out of the market altogether, we feel grateful to be able to do so."
