Fox Point-based physical therapy software startup Alinea Engage LLC has raised an $860,000 seed funding round, led by Brookfield-based Golden Angels Investors.
The main funding round closed Dec. 10, though there are other joinder agreements in the works, said Alinea founder Carol Vance.
Sources indicate those additional investors are Milwaukee- and Downers Grove, Illinois-based Advocate Aurora Health Inc. and Milwaukee-based Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co. An Aurora spokesman declined to comment. Northwestern Mutual representatives did not return calls seeking comment. Vance declined to comment on the additional investors.
BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation invested $150,000 in Alinea’s seed round, said Fred Raasch, business manager at BrightStar.
“We think it’s an excellent opportunity that meets our investment criteria,” Raasch said.
BrightStar operates on a venture philanthropy model, raising funds from donors and co-investing them in early-stage Wisconsin companies that are poised to drive job creation.
And Alinea, which currently has two employees, plans to do just that. With the help of the funding round, Vance expects to add 12 employees in 2019. She also plans to establish a physical office location in Milwaukee for Alinea Engage in the near future.
Alinea Engage developed a software platform that allows outpatient physical therapy and rehabilitation providers to improve outcomes and reduce health care costs by using automation to better engage patients, she said.
“We are on the cusp of an incredible opportunity,” Vance said. “What we’re planning to do with the new funding is further invest in our technology, which includes building out our technology team here in Wisconsin.”
Using Alinea software, medical practices can digitize their intake forms and complete that onboarding process before a patient arrives for the appointment, she said. Alinea’s main strategic partner is Casamba, a post-acute care electronic medical records company.
“We are designed to engage patients from first touchpoint to lifelong loyalty,” Vance said. “We support the individual practices, which are customers of Casamba as well as Alinea, reaching out to their patient from the moment their patient is a potential consumer of that service.”
Founded in 2015, Alinea has been funded to this point by a single undisclosed angel investor. This was the perfect time to raise a larger funding round, Vance said, because the health care industry is under pressure to find more efficient ways to engage patients and improve care, and physical therapy can make a difference in the fight against the opioid epidemic.
