Voalté, a provider of healthcare communication technology, has a $17 million cash infusion from Ascension Ventures, Cerner Capital, an affiliate of EHR giant Cerner, and Bedford Funding.
The Series D round of funding closed on July 27, 2015, bringing the total capital Voalté has raised to nearly $60 million in three years.
Voalté develops smartphone alternatives aimed at simplifying caregiver communication, enabling care teams inside and outside the hospital to access and exchange information securely.
The new capital will be used to sustain a triple-digit growth trajectory for Voalté, company executives said in a news release. Voalté grew revenue by 250 percent year-over-year in the second quarter, due in large part to product innovation as well as a rapidly expanding customer base, according to Voalté. Last quarter alone, 44 new sites signed with Voalté for their healthcare communication platforms, which are now used by tens of thousands of caregivers at more than 150 healthcare organizations throughout the U.S.
"The next phase of technology adoption is progressing from individual hospitals to multi-site health systems that need to deploy a system-wide standard for caregiver communication," said Trey Lauderdale, founder and CEO of Voalté, in a news release. Ascension Ventures and Cerner, he said, "recognize how Voalté solutions help hospitals improve care coordination and patient care. I'm excited about the partnership and how it will enable us to continue to push the envelope on advancing healthcare communication."
[See also: Voalté launches mobile device management platform for hospitals.]
A number of factors are fueling investor interest in Voalté, including research forecasts that the global mHealth market will grow at a compound annual rate of 47.6 percent in the next five years, from $14.5 billion in 2015 to $49 billion in 2020. The market growth parallels industry analysts' observations that mobile communication will be key to supporting new healthcare delivery models.
"Providing high-quality, compassionate and personalized care is central to our mission, and requires extraordinary communication and collaboration," said Victor Kats, managing director at Ascension Ventures, in a statement. "It is exciting to see how the Voalté healthcare communication platform strongly aligns with our limited partners' mobile communication strategies."
[See also: Voalté launches mobile device management platform for hospitals.]
Ascension Ventures, launched in 2001as a subsidiary of Ascension, the nation's largest Catholic and non-profit health system.
Bedford Funding is a private equity firm providing $1.4 billion in long-term capital to businesses in growing technology sectors with experienced industry focus in the growing healthcare IT sector.
