Startups to Watch: ShiftMed

Editor’s note: This is one of our Startups to Watch of 2022. See the rest here.

Todd Walrath sees 2022 as a pivotal growth year for his McLean staffing startup, as the Covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated a staffing shortage in health care.

ShiftMed LLC’s platform connects hospitals and other health care organizations with clinical workers. It’s ramping up for a national expansion, with plans to enter 50 new markets in the Midwest, Northeast and West this year. The business, which counts 175 local employees and 700 enterprise customers, intends to nearly double the number of caregivers using the platform. It also plans to add 50,000 workers to the existing 60,000-person network and bring on 200 new office staffers, more than doubling in size.

A year from now, the company expects to operate in more than 100 cities while expanding its service lines for hospitals and in-home care organizations.

The company raised $45 million in October from Atlanta venture capital firm Panoramic Ventures and Healthworx, the innovation arm of Baltimore’s CareFirst Holdings LLC, as well as Alexandria’s Motley Fool Ventures, Vienna’s 3TS Capital Partners and Richmond’s Blue Heron Capital. As for whether ShiftMed will return to the VC arena this year, “we will continue to explore financing options to fund our growth,” Walrath, its CEO, told us.

Its growth is no coincidence — the current Great Resignation has been particularly problematic for the health care industry, which has been losing vital workers as the talent battle heats up.

Walrath is also founder and CEO of McLean’s HomeCare.com, a digital marketplace that connects caregivers and post-acute workers to patients and their families. He previously started SeniorLiving.net, before its 2011 sale to RealPage Inc., as well as Leads.com, now part of Web.com.

Walrath previously held positions as chief operating officer of Weather.com and vice president for AOL Local.

A closer look