PORTLAND, OR and SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Oct 28, 2014) - Bright.md today announced that it has closed a $1 million round of seed funding, which will enable continued development and deployment of a healthcare software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution designed to enhance communication between physicians and patients, and enable faster diagnosis and treatment. Seven Peaks Ventures was joined by Portland Seed Fund and Oregon Angel Fund in the funding round.
"For patients today, the inability to get timely access to affordable primary care is a fundamental problem," said Ray Costantini, MD, co-founder and CEO of Bright.md. "We created Bright.md to help providers work smarter, delivering more efficient, high quality, low cost care. Bright.md is the only solution I am aware of that provides this type of value to existing delivery systems, helping patients get care from the physicians they already know and trust."
Bright.md is at the forefront of developing SmartExam™, a virtual care solution that connects patients to their physicians using their home computer or mobile device and allows them to receive treatment for less than the cost of the average co-pay. By enabling patients to input insurance information and answer questions about their symptoms, Bright.md can automate up to 60 percent of primary care visit volume and reduce the time providers need for those visits from 20 minutes down to less than two minutes. Using the software solution, physicians can treat a patient, document the visit, generate the patient's After Visit Summary (AVS), write prescriptions and schedule follow-up visits much more efficiently. This efficiency helps practices expand capacity by 30 percent and improve margins by up to 300 percent.
The market for management of these kinds of primary care conditions is estimated to be worth $150 billion annually.
Bright.md was co-founded by Dr. Costantini and Mark Swinth in January 2014. Dr. Costantini is a pioneering healthcare business leader and a seasoned entrepreneur. Most recently he was regional medical director and director of product strategy at Providence Health and Services, where he directed development of numerous ground-breaking web products.
Swinth is an experienced business strategist and entrepreneur. He spent more than a decade at Bain & Co. as a strategy consultant, supporting Fortune 500 companies, with a focus on software, medical devices and health insurance. He also served as co-founder and senior vice president leading application development for BrandFidelity (acquired by Federal Research).
"The innovation and talent coming out of Oregon is impressive and Bright.md is among the most notable startups," said Dino Vendetti, general partner at Seven Peaks Ventures. "The way Bright.md is leveraging software to automate and streamline the communication and interactions between doctors and their patients resonated with our team. And Ray's and Mark's backgrounds and passion as entrepreneurs provide the foundation needed to achieve success in this growing market."
Bright.md also was awarded the $100,000 Seven Peaks Ventures Award at the Bend Venture Conference (BVC) on October 17. The BVC is Oregon's largest venture capital competition. Past winners have included Portland, Ore.-based Jama and Bend, Ore.-based Manzama.
About Bright.md
Bright.md is transforming health care through innovation with a seamless software solution that cuts the cost of health care visits by 80 percent. Its virtual care solution automates care and communication between physician and patient for faster, more convenient diagnosis and treatment. Bright.md, founded in 2014, is venture-backed and based in Portland. For more information, visit bright.md.
About Seven Peaks Ventures
Seven Peaks Ventures is Oregon's premier early-stage venture capital fund investing in capital-efficient companies whose founders are passionate about transforming lives, industries and businesses with innovative solutions in data, mobile, and cloud technologies. Founded in 2013, Seven Peaks' mission is to give entrepreneurs in Central Oregon and throughout the Pacific Northwest an "unfair advantage" in building and scaling their businesses by providing them with capital and access to experience, expertise and networks that can help them execute on their vision. For more information, visit www.sevenpeaksventures.com.
About Oregon Angel Fund (OAF)
Founded in 2007, OAF is a community supported, professionally managed, investor driven angel fund backed by the leaders of Oregon's business and technology community, the Oregon Growth Board, and the Oregon Community Foundation. OAF invests $7 million annually in the most promising startups and early-stage growth companies in Oregon and SW Washington. Over 1,400 jobs have been created by the 36 companies in the portfolio. For more information, please visit: www.OregonAngelFund.com.
About Portland Seed Fund
Portland Seed Fund (PSF) is Oregon's most active venture capital fund, investing in 12 -- 15 Pacific Northwest companies per year since 2011 with more than $10 million under management. After initial seed investment by PSF, companies have raised more than $50 million from leading VC firms including Foundry Group, Madrona, Bessemer, True, K9, 500 Startups and TechStars. PSF companies have been acquired by leading tech companies such as Yahoo!, ESRI and Chirpify. For more information, visit www.portlandseedfund.com.
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