New funding: Healthcare software startup GrowthPlug raised a $1 million round led by Elevate Capital. It also announced today that it has relocated from the Bay Area to Beaverton, Ore., becoming the latest Silicon Valley startup to pack its bags in search of a new environment.
Heading north: Sudhir Bhatti, CEO and co-founder of GrowthPlug, said the Bay Area was a great place to get connected to world-class investors. “But when it comes to hiring, it’s a hyper-competitive market and as an early-stage startup, a great and dedicated team is what matters the most,” he said.
That’s what eventually led to the relocation to the Portland region, which offers “the right mix of tech talent, great quality of life and booming startup scene,” Bhatti said. “We have been looking forward to moving GrowthPlug’s headquarters to a region where we can be capital efficient and get access to a big talent pool in the tech space,” he added.
Axios highlighted a trend earlier this year of founders forgoing Silicon Valley and picking other cities to start their next company, for reasons similar to why GrowthPlug moved away. Bloomberg Beta chief Roy Bahat tweeted about the trend.
SF has gone from startup hub, to startup headquarters-and-maybe-engineering hub, and risks soon becoming just a startup fundraising hub.
— Roy E. Bahat (@roybahat) February 11, 2019
Skyrocketing housing prices are also forcing tech workers to look for cheaper cities, a recent Wealthfront survey found.
Last year, security tech startup Twistlock moved from San Francisco to Portland.
Company background: Founded in 2016, GrowthPlug aims to help healthcare practices acquire, retain, and serve patients by automating various office management systems. It works with dentists, veterinarians, spa practitioners, and more. The company’s revenues increased by 300 percent in the past year.
GrowthPlug employs 25 people and plans to hire another 25 employees over the next year at its Beaverton office, located in the City Hall of Beaverton building.
Shavita Bhatti — the wife of Sudhir Bhatti — is the company’s other co-founder and currently is the chief operating officer.
Nitin Rai, managing director at Portland-based Elevate Capital, will join the company’s board of directors. The firm’s investment in GrowthPlug comes from its Elevate Inclusive Fund, which invests in minority entrepreneurs. Elevate has invested nearly $8 million across 37 startups since 2016.
Source: Geek Wire
