Reston, Va.-based startup Avizia has closed a $17 million funding round. The telemedicine startup finished a $6 million round led by HealthQuest Capital supplemented by NewYork-Presbyterian to top up the $11 million round announced in July. The round as a whole was led Richmond, Va.-based Blue Heron Capital and joined by a mix of local investors including Middleland Capital, LavrockVentrues and NextGen Venture Partners.
"We're seeing telehealth being adopted globally," Avizia CEO Mike Baird told DC Inno in an interview. "We look at ourselves as being one of the main leaders in the telehealth industry."
Healthcare is a heavily regulated industry in the U.S. and many other countries. New technology and new applications for that technology can't be inserted or switched around quickly or universally. That tends to leave healthcare IT a little behind in the cycle of investment. And the regulations that healthcare providers like NewYork-Presbyterian operate under are what pushed the $6 million into a supplemental deal.
"We look at ourselves as being one of the main leaders in the telehealth industry."
"There's obviously lots of competitors as the market is expanding rapidly," Baird said. "[Telehealth] is driven by the patients. We want to improve connectivity between them and doctors."
Avizia's use of information technology to connect doctors with patients at a distance has attracted a lot of attention. The company operates in around 40 countries, and more than a third of U.S. hospital networks. With the cash infusion, Baird said the plan is to bring on a lot more engineers and other staff to roll out and improve its products.
"We don't have enough specialty doctors to cover the patients that we have," Baird said. "[Avizia can] scale healthcare specialists."
The new engineers will be based out of Avizia's local headquarters, where they are working on new products like a tablet application for telehealth services. Although the demand for tech talent is as high as ever, Baird said Avizia has been doing well in the hunt overall.
"We all wish to find more talent of course," Baird said. "What we've been fortunate is how people find out about our culture here. That makes it easier to attract talent."
The new funding is a big leap for Avizia, which raised $8 million last year in two different rounds. Baird said there's never beenan issue attracting capital though, especially in light of the 80 to 100 percent growth the company has experienced in the last couple of years. For now though, the company is set in terms of capital reserves.
"This funding should last us the next two or so years," Baird said. "We're focused on expanding now."
