With healthcare workers hard to come by and threats of winter Covid-19 surges, hospitals are bracing for what’s to come. Prolucent Health is one DFW company working on solutions to the looming employment crisis. The company announced on Monday it secured $11.5 million in a Series A round to expand its healthcare worker-focused platform.
Launched in 2019, Prolucent Health is a healthcare startup focused on using software and AI to create labor solutions in the healthcare industry. In 2020, Prolucent acquired Liquid Compass Platform, a national healthcare job platform, that now boasts over 30,000 employers and half a million users. Medical workers can use the platform to easily find jobs and employers can search for qualified candidates on the platform. According to the company’s website, Prolucent is also working on a new advising feature that would support job seekers looking to find their ideal positions.
While other job platforms provide listings for shift positions, Prolucent’s platform lists full-time and part-time positions along with contingent positions as well.
“With an intensifying labor shortage further fueled by Covid-related issues and worsening due to the changing needs of workers, there is an urgent need for cost-effective and sustainable workforce solutions that streamline how hospitals and health systems connect with, access and manage the talent they need,” Bruce Springer, Prolucent Health CEO and co-founder, said in a statement. “Our investors share our vision for building more transparent, intelligent healthcare workforce solutions that reduce overall labor costs for health systems.”
According to a company spokesperson, Prolucent will use the new funds to add some 40 new hires to its sales, marketing and client services teams. It will also work on adding features to its current platform.
The funding round was co-led by SpringTide Ventures and Health Velocity Capital, two VC firms with a focus on healthtech startups. UnityPoint Health Ventures also participated in the round.
“Now more than ever, the healthcare labor management market is ripe for innovation and in need of talent solutions that leverage artificial intelligence and analytics to help inform critical decision making,” Austin Walters, SpringTide founder managing partner, said in a statement.
In addition to participating in the funding round, Walters will join Prolucent’s board of directors.
Prolucent Health is one of several innovative DFW startups that over the past months have leveraged their tech to provide solutions for the U.S. labor shortage. In November, Dallas-based startup QliqSOFT launched a medical chatbot marketplace to alleviate medical workers from administrative tasks, such as sending out appointment reminders or completing patient intake. And earlier in December, job listing platform Shiftsmart raised $95 million in a Series B round after the company witnessed exponential user growth since the start of the pandemic.
