Oculys Health Informatics, a Kitchener-Waterloo based healthtech startup, has been acquired by Toronto-headquartered VitalHub for about $4.2 million. The deal is expected to close in approximately one week from the time of publication.
“By joining forces, we have an opportunity to participate in building a great Canadian healthcare tech company.”
– Frank Hivert
Oculys has developed an operational management system for hospitals, which aims to increase efficiencies and create operational visibility across multiple departments. The company will become a business unit of VitalHub and remain in Kitchener-Waterloo. Hiring and efforts to expand the company will also continue. CEO Frank Hivert, who will become COO of the company, told Communitech News he was very happy to have sold to another Canadian company rather than one in the US.
“By being part of VitalHub’s robust and growing suite of health IT solutions, Oculys will have the opportunity to meaningfully extend its product reach across Canada, and, with significant support, internationally,” Hivert said in a statement.
Oculys was founded in 2011, with a mission to create a singular tool that can streamline critical operational information into one view in real-time. The startup’s leadership team includes Hivert, vice president of operations Desh Sharma, and vice president of data science Biao Wang. The company was a participant in the Lazaridis Scale-Up Program in 2016 and has industry partnerships with Communitech, Microsoft, and the University of Waterloo.
Some of the company’s products include Oculys Predict, a real-time communication tool, and Oculys Performance, a mobile operations visibility solution. The company’s system is currently used by 18 customers in Ontario and Manitoba, and the company’s year-end revenue was more than $2 million.
VitalHub is a developer and backer of healthtech solutions for 200 customers. It also acquired the UK-based Oak Group earlier this year, a company that supplies clinic utilization review software.
RELATED: Calgary hospital first in Canada to use virtual reality to treat pain
“Through this acquisition, not only have we increased our recurring revenue base, we have created a synergistic opportunity for [the] customers [of both companies],” said VitalHub CEO Dan Matlow. “We look forward to levering Oculys’ operational flow solutions as we continue to advance our growth strategy.”
“VitalHub recognized the quality of our solutions, the value we are delivering, and the strength of our entire team,” Hivert told the Waterloo Region Record. “By joining forces, we have an opportunity to participate in building a great Canadian healthcare tech company with global reach and that personally excites me very much.”
Image courtesy Unsplash