Pitch Night Win Adds to Tech Startup’s Growth
(photo courtesy of Zionsville Mayor Tim Haak)
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe chief executive officer of Evansville-based SafeKeeping says the tech startup’s win last week at the inaugural zWORKS Pitch Night in Zionsville is another step in its growth trajectory. The company, which provides a communication and collaboration platform for long-term care facilities, took the top prize in the competition, which includes a year of office space at the zWORKS coworking space. Doug Wilcox says the startup launched its platform in July 2018 and is working to expand its footprint.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Wilcox said the pitch competition provided more than he expected.
"We’re in the middle of a seed round, a capital raise and I had a number of people come up to me afterwards and ask if we could connect later on," said Wilcox. "There were a lot of very experienced, very sophisticated investors, venture capital firms that were there and I think it not only gave us some good opportunities for our current raise, but again I think it raised a lot of awareness for us for additional raises in the future and just establishing some of those connections and some of those relationships right away, so it’s really big. Having that big of a forum to be able to present your company, your idea and what you’re doing, it’s a huge advantage and then obviously to win it, you get even that much more exposure and attention."
SafeKeeping helps long-term care facilities drive operational efficiencies and better collaboration with families and residents, which Wilcox says drives better health outcomes. The company currently has three employees and Wilcox says, as a result of winning the competition, it now has a dedicated office space for the first time, though they have operated out of various coworking spaces throughout the state as needed.
Wilcox says SafeKeeping is integrated with Canada-based PointClickCare, a long-term care electronic health records provider, and the platform is currently being used in nearly 80 facilities.
"Our platform has really matured significantly over the past six months. The main reason that we’re raising capital is to continue to fund that growth of the platform and the functionalities. Near-term, we’re looking to continue to build the platform; we’ve got some key headcount that we’re looking to hire over the next 3-6 months and then long-term, we’re really looking to continue to develop that relationship with PointClickCare, to continue to develop sales channels and continue to go to market."
Wilcox says the startup is on pace to hit its first milestone of having its platform in 100 facilities by the first quarter of next year. The next big milestone would be to grow to 400 facilities, which he says they expect to hit by the end of 2020.
Wilcox says the pitch competition provided more than he expected.