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OpenLoop raises $8 million Series A round

March 15, 2022

Des Moines health tech startup OpenLoop announced today a Series A financing round of $8 million.

OpenLoop will use the capital to continue to expand its telehealth services and to grow its team. The company currently has 45 employees with plans to add another 25-30 employees by the end of the year.

“Just six months ago 90% of our deal flow was outbound, and then there was pretty much an overnight shift where everything then came inbound,” said Jon Lensing, CEO and co-founder of OpenLoop. “95% of our deal flow right now is inbound so we’ll be ramping up our sales team, our marketing efforts, to bring up that outbound activity levels back to where we were at pre-inflection point, supplementing our sales force to handle all the inbound demand generation that we have, and then adding new marketing resources to really expand on that because I think we’ve just barely scratched the surface here.

This round was led by SpringTide Ventures, a Massachusetts-based VC firm dedicated to improving the field of medicine by investing in organizations solving major technology challenges within healthcare. They were joined by Des Moines firm ManchesterStory, along with all existing investors including Next Level Ventures, Panoramic Ventures, ISA Ventures, and some strategic healthcare syndicates.

“OpenLoop selected SpringTide as our lead investor because of how closely their vision and culture aligned to our own,” said Christian Williams, Co-founder and COO of OpenLoop in a statement. “We were very impressed by their focus on accelerating virtual care delivery through high quality patient services and innovative technology solutions; two areas where they viewed us as leaders.”

“We are delighted to partner with OpenLoop,” said Ryan Morley, Partner at SpringTide. “OpenLoop’s mission to bring healing anywhere through virtual support to patients aligns strongly with SpringTide’s purpose-driven investments. The funding will enable OpenLoop to further advance the initiative to support companies launching and scaling virtual care services across the nation.”

The latest round of capital brings OpenLoop’s total raised to approximately $11 million.

Previous coverage

OpenLoop raises $3 million seed round

Iowa City startup is Helping Match Physicians with Local Jobs

Tags: Investment round OpenLoop Series A

OpenLoop raises $8 million Series A round | Clay & Milk

A central Iowa ag-tech accelerator has secured more backers and finally has a name. The Greater Des Moines Partnership first announced the accelerator last year, naming four initial investors. On Monday, the Partnership said the program will be called the "Iowa AgriTech Accelerator" and named three new investors. The new investors include Grinnell Mutual, Kent Corp. and Sukup Manufacturing, all Iowa companies. They join investors Deere & Co., Peoples Co., Farmers Mutual Hail Insurance Co. and DuPont Pioneer. Each investor has agreed to put up $100,000 for the first year of the accelerator. Startups entering the program will receive $40,000 in seed funding in exchange for 6 percent equity. Tej Dhawan, an angel investor and local startup mentor, is serving as interim director until the AgriTech Accelerator names a permanent leader. Dhawan held a similar role with the GIA before Brian Hemesath was named as managing director. As interim director, Dhawan said his main job includes hiring the accelerator's executive director, establishing a business structure and initial recruiting for the first cohort. The accelerator will place few filters, such as location and product, on the applicant pool, Dhawan said. "When you’re seeking innovation, innovation can come from every corner of the world so why restrict ourselves," he said. One area the the AgriTech Accelerator won't recruit from is biotech. For its first cohort, the AgriTech Accelerator will work out of the GIA's space in Des Moines' East Village, Dhawan said. A future, permanent home is still to be decided. The accelerator's program will host startups from mid-July through mid-October, ending with an event connected to the annual World Food Prize. The GIA, which the AgriTech Accelerator is based on, also ends with presentations at an industry event. The accelerator has also started lining up a mentor pool. The Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association and the Iowa Pork Producers Association have agreed to provide mentors, as has Iowa State University. While the AgriTech Accelerator is loosely based off of the GIA, it will differ in its business structure, Dhawan said. The GIA runs through a for-profit model for both operations and its investment fund. The AgriTech Accelerator will have a nonprofit model for its operations and a for-profit setup for its fund. Dhawan said the nonprofit model is being used so the accelerator can better work with other nonprofit partners, such as trade associations. "These are all organizations that are nonprofits and can be amazing stakeholders without ever having to be investors in the accelerator," he said. "It becomes easier to work with trade associations in their nonprofit role when we are also a nonprofit." When it's up and running, the AgriTech Accelerator would be one of a handful of ag-focused startup development programs in Iowa. Others include the Ag Startup Engine out of Iowa State University and the Rural Ventures Alliance from Iowa MicroLoan. Matthew Patane is the managing editor and co-founder of Clay & Milk. Send him an email at mpatane@clayandmilk.com.

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