Olive adds software team from Hunt Valley-based ByteLion

When healthcare AI company Olive made public a series of hiring moves this fall, team members from Hunt Valley-based software product development agency ByteLion were among those who were announced as joining the team.

It reflected a deal in which 28 team members of ByteLion came over to the Columbus, Ohio-based healthcare automation company. Olive Chief People Officer Brian Rutkowski called the deal an “acquihire of sorts,” as Olive did not purchase ByteLion, but rather brought on the team’s talent. Terms were not disclosed.

In all, Olive now has 1,000 employees. The company is aiming to hire 300 employees by the end of the year.

“We’ve welcomed the addition of 28 team members to our ever-growing employee base, each bringing extremely valuable software experience to help support Olive in our goal of building the true Internet of Healthcare,” Rutkowski said.

ByteLion was founded in 2011 by Terrance MacGregor, and worked with firms ranging from startups to corporations over 10 years on web and mobile application development, product design and other services. Team members have set aside time to educate the community through events like Baltimore Innovation Week.

The connection between the two teams came by way of Baltimore’s tech community. Olive CEO Sean Lane previously lived in Baltimore and cofounded Betamore, and knew MacGregor through the ecosystem.

“Sean and Terry each share a military background and clicked instantly in the decision to move forward with the acquihire,” Rutkowski said. “Olive and ByteLion’s company cultures align well and provide us with another opportunity to have a big impact on healthcare.”

The ByteLion team will be “quickly integrated” into Olive’s team, Rutkowski said. Primarily, the team will be working on Olive Helps, which is technology that the company describes as an AI-powered “sidekick” to assist healthcare workers.

“We see the engineering and product skillsets and team culture as a natural fit which will dramatically increase the speed at which our platform will evolve,” he said.

ByteLion employees can remain in the Baltimore area, as Olive operates on a distributed work model, called “The Grid,” which allows team members to choose where they work. The company also gives employees in some areas the option to work at satellite offices it calls “substations,” including one at Betamore in Port Covington. With leaders and team members based locally including Olive Ventures Managing Partner Greg Cangialosi, Olive already had a presence in Baltimore. The addition of the ByteLion team grows its base further. In a time of distributed work, it’s a sign of how companies can meaningfully contribute to a tech community, even if the city isn’t their corporate HQ.