Dr. Iman Abuzeid Leads Incredible Health To Unicorn Status In $80 Million Series B

T.Three years after the Covid-19 pandemic, the American healthcare system continues to face a critical nurse shortage. More than a third of his hospitals nationwide have nurse vacancies above his 10%, and half a million more RNs are expected to retire by the end of the year. To keep up with patient demand, hospital executives have turned to temporary workers, an increasingly expensive alternative, and the disruption caused by the pandemic has led the American Hospital Association to say that by 2020, 1 It points out that the prices charged by recruitment agencies have tripled since March.

That’s where Incredible Health comes in. Founded in 2017 by Dr. Iman Abuzeid and Rome Portlock, it acts like an enhanced LinkedIn for nurses. About 60% of the nation’s top-ranked hospital systems, including Cedars-Sinai and Baylor Scott & White, have signed on to the platform, while Incredible’s proprietary algorithms match the best candidates to open positions. , we pay the company to post open vacancies.

On Wednesday, the startup announced it had raised $80 million in Series B funding. That’s enough to raise his valuation to $1.65 billion and expose his CEO Abuzeid to tenuous air. A black female founder runs a company with a market capitalization over her $1 billion.

Missing out on female CEOs and black CEOs is probably not a good idea. Because they bring tremendous value to your business.

The announcement comes less than a year after Forbes named Incredible Health to its 2021 Next Billion-Dollar Startups list. At the time, the company stood out for its profitability and the way it used machine learning technology to connect nurses to high-paying full-time employees at a rate faster than traditional recruiting (vs. the standard his 82 days). 14, says Abuzeid).

But with both venture capital and revenue declining, Incredible is picking up speed while other digital health companies are slowing and tightening their belts. Abuzeid told Forbes that the company remains cash flow positive, with 2021 earnings up 500%, he estimates. $25 million (although Abuzeid declined to comment on specific numbers), which is more than 50% higher than he predicted last year. The company has also expanded its workforce to his 180 people.

“If we want to be the market leader in medical labor, we have to scale,” Abuzeid said. Forbes. “That’s part of this fundraising. We need to keep expanding from 25 states to the rest. [and] A non-nursing role should be added. Because doctors, physical therapists, and pharmacists can benefit from this. ”

The Series B round was led by Base 10 Partners as part of an advance initiative to invest in pre-IPO companies and donate 50% of the fund’s retained interest to historically black colleges and universities. His Base 10 partner, Jamison Hill, said: forbes Incredible Health believes in how its mission aligns with theirs—how it broadly expands economic opportunities to those in need—and how companies score on the three key metrics they seek in all their investments. Wearing it stood out to him and his colleagues. – Market fit, operating in an industry undergoing massive change, efficient growth model.

“Hospital healthcare systems can’t find enough nurses to meet patient demand, so there’s a real need out there,” says Hill. “that is, [Incredible Health is] You can have positive cash flow. This shows that they have an efficient sales cycle, that they are able to capture value for their customers, and that their economy is working. ”

Unlike the staffing market (such as Nomad Health), Incredible Health focuses on hiring permanent employees. Abuzeid says the efficiencies her platform adds to the hiring process will benefit all parties involved. Health system executives save $2 million per year per hospital that would otherwise be spent on temporary workers and staffing costs, and nurse salaries increase on average. of 17%. Plus, she adds, her company’s software ensures skilled nurses are matched for jobs that may have been overlooked by traditional hiring practices.

“If you’re a healthcare worker or a nurse, you don’t have to rely on connections, acquaintances, or nepotism to get a job,” says Abu Zeid. “The amazing thing about technology is that it can level the playing field.”

Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Obvious Ventures also participated in the round, along with healthcare system Kaiser Permanente (an Incredible Health customer), NBA stars Andre Iguodala, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio (famous TikTok influencers). A series of new investors also participated, including , participated through 444 Capital Fund. Abuzeid hopes the sisters’ massive social media platform will help increase her Incredible Health’s engagement with potential customers.

“Generation Z nurses and millennial nurses are very active on social media,” says Abu Zeid. “Including the use of influencers is very important as part of our growth strategy and our ability to engage with talented people.”

As Abuzeid works to level the playing field for healthcare workers, her company’s new status as a unicorn marks a small step in an outrageously unfair entrepreneurial environment. Last year, less than 2% of her total venture funding went to female founders, and less than 1% went to female founders of color. Abuzeid is her CEO of her company and also an immigrant (she was born to Sudanese parents who were living in Saudi Arabia at the time), so she belongs to a rare company. But as her Hill of Base 10 points out, “Now she’s in 2022. This shouldn’t be all that uncommon.”

Abu Zeid agrees, but accepts her position as a role model for others. says and advises people who look like her to “compartmentalize” the system’s biases and focus on its vision and mission. By the way, it’s probably not a good idea to overlook female CEOs or black CEOs. Because they bring tremendous value to your business. And you overlook it at your own expense.