Money Moves: McLean healthcare workforce platform ShiftMed raised $45M

ShiftMed, a McLean, Virginia-based management platform for healthcare workers, raised $45 million this week. The round was led by industry investors, Panoramic Ventures and Healthworx, the innovation arm of CareFirst. Additional participants included Blue Heron Capital, Motley Fool Ventures and 3TS Capital Partners.

The funding from the raise will be used to continue developing ShiftMed’s products as well as expanding its footprint nationally. In the third quarter of 2021, over 200,000 patients used ShiftMed and its hired over 10,000 nurses since its inception.

“Now more than ever, credentialed caregivers are needed to support our hospital, post-acute, and in-home business segments. ShiftMed’s software platform allows our customers real-time access to the workers they need,” said Todd Walrath, ShiftMed CEO, in a statement. “We are excited to accelerate our mission of building a global community of engaged health care professionals.”

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Fairfax, Virgnia-based software developer 3Pillar has landed a strategic growth investment from an affiliate of H.I.G. Capital, the company announced this week.

With the investment, 3Pillar said it will continue the company’s growth, including adding members to the team. It is currently hiring data analysts, UX designers, engineers and salespeople for its Fairfax headquarters, but the company is fully remote with a “work from anywhere” policy.

“These past 18 months created an opportunity for accelerated growth in the digital transformation market, and 3Pillar rose to meet that need,” Margaret Irons, 3Pillar VP of marketing and communications, told Technical.ly. “This new partnership with H.I.G. Capital will allow us to maintain our current strategic growth, mature our development systems, and help hire and develop the top talent in the industry. This investment will strengthen our momentum going into 2022, and we are excited for what our future holds.”

Earlier this year, the company acquired Europe-based developer Software Development Europe.

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DC financial edtech firm MPower Financing, which caters to international and DACA students, is doubling its student lending limit.

MPower announced this week that it would be raising its loan limit for students from $50,000 to $100,000. The loans, which are collateral and cosigner-free, can be used for student-related expenses such as housing, insurance and food.

“As a mission-driven company, we consistently seek to ensure that we are serving our student population,” said CEO Manu Smadja in a statement. “We received an influx of messages from our students indicating that more financial support was needed. We listened. Following our capital infusion this summer, we’re pleased that we can now offer more monetary resources to make obtaining an education in the US and Canada more attainable.”

In July, the company raised a $100 million equity round to grow its presence in the international student loan market and nabbed an additional $52.5 million in unrestricted corporate debt.

Here’s a look at more deals around the DMV:

Going public

• Energy storage firm Fluence Energy, based in Arlington, Virginia, which develops software products for the electric grid, filed for its IPO. The company, which intends to trade on the Nasdaq as FLNC, could raise up to $855.6 million.
• Biotech innovation firm Aditxt, based in Richmond, Virginia, has officially gone public. The underwritten public offering sold 2,833,333 shares of common stock at $1.50 a share, raising $4.25 million.

Fundraising

• The Center for Innovative Technology GAP Funds (CIT) invested an undisclosed amount in Senior Runs, an early-stage startup based in Newport News, Virginia, that helps seniors with their travel and transportation needs.
• Alexandria, Virginia’s BCMstrategy, which develops decision-making tools for investment and government public policy, also received CIT funding. It said the funding will primarily be used for developing an app compatible with a Bloomberg Terminal.
• Chase Therapeutics, a DC pharma company that focuses on Parkinson’s Disease treatments, raised a $20 million Series B round led by Chinalinka Asia Holdings, based in Hong Kong. The company will use the funding for Phase 3 pivotal trials for its treatment methods.
• Alzheimer’s diagnostic firm SYNAPS Dx, based in Rockville, closed a $10 million Series A round from private equity, corporate investors and family funds. The capital will be used to scale up production of its DISCERN product for Alzheimer’s Disease diagnosis.
• Leesburg, Virginia’s TrustPoint, which is developing an alternative to government GPS technology, raised a $2 million seed funding round from venture capital firm DCVC.
• Revenue intelligence and operations platform ForcastEra, based in Reston, Virginia, raised a $4.5 million funding round led by Ringbolt Capital. Srikanth Ramachandran, a managing partner at Ringbolt, will be joining the company’s board of directors.
• Howard University received a five-year, $16.8 million grant from the PNC Foundation to create a national center for entrepreneurship at the college. The center will be aimed at developing resources and support for Black businesses owners as well as boosting education opportunities for Black entrepreneurship.
• Medical device firm Contraline, a VC-backed firm in Charlottesville, Virginia, closed a $10.7 million Series A round led by MBX Capital, which invests in early-stage life science and healthcare firms. The funding will be used to initiate an inaugural in-human trial of its ADAM product, a contraceptive for men.

Government deals

• Arlington-based Agile technology firm Excella landed a contract from the Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Excella will be providing coaching and testing in Agile services for the development of the department’s Spartan Case Management System.
• Peraton, the Herndon, Virginia enterprise IT firm, won a Department of Defense contract to improve its tactical network offerings.

New ground

• DC puzzling firm Puzzle Huddle, which saw major success throughout the pandemic, landed a deal with streaming service Netflix to create puzzles based on an upcoming cartoon series, Washington Business Journal reported.
• Bethesda digital strategy and IT firm Digital Management Holdings nabbed a strategic investment from OceanSound Partners to expand geographically and add to the team. Founder and CEO Jay Sunny Bajaj will maintain significant ownership in the firm.
• Mobile security platform provider CIS Mobile is adding a new mobile integration center at its HQ in Ashburn, Virginia.