Toronto-based SeamlessMD has announced the close of a $1.1 million seed round, led by BDC Capital, FoundersClub, and a group of prominent angel investors, including Globalive Capital Chairman Tony Lacavera, and physicians Dr. Ray Muzyka (co-founder of BioWare) and Dr. Daniel Schwartz (co-founder of QxMD).
A developer of patient engagement technology for surgery, SeamlessMD offers a cloud-based app platform that gives patients reminders, educational video, and progress tracking and self-management tools related to their surgery. Healthcare providers can also get realtime analytics to monitor patients through the system.
“You should seek out investors who live the problem you’re trying to solve – often, they will be the most excited about your business.”
“SeamlessMD allows patients to access reliable information when they want tailored to their specific needs,” said Dr. Carmine Simone, Chief of Surgery for Toronto East General Hospital. “Using SeamlessMD has helped us reduce emergency room visits, surgery cancellations and phone calls to the doctor’s office. It makes an already stressful situation more bearable for patients.”
SeamlessMD’s seed round is notable not only for its portfolio of angel investors, but for coming at a time when other early-stage healthtech startups struggle to find initial investment. When asked how the company had managed it, CEO Dr. Joshua Liu offered this advice to his fellow entrepreneurs.
“You should seek out investors who live the problem you’re trying to solve – often, they will be the most excited about your business,” Dr. Liu said. “So in retrospect, it’s not surprising that quite a few of our investors are physicians. They know why our solution is urgently needed, and they are excited to help us build the future of healthcare.”
It was a sentiment supported by Dr. Muzyka, originally an ER physician and now an angel investor at ThresholdImpact following his time with BioWare. “Having personally had experience as a physician, tech entrepreneur and surgery patient, I believe that SeamlessMD is uniquely positioned to tackle a huge and important problem facing our healthcare system,” Dr. Muzyka said.
Dr. Liu told BetaKit that SeamlessMD will use the funding to expand its library of surgery programs, and grow the company’s user base in the U.S. market.