Talyst, With $8M in New Funding, Sets Sights on Its Next Healthcare-IT Business

It might be too early to call Bellevue, WA-based Talyst a success, but its story certainly makes for a compelling case study. The company closed $8 million last month from existing investors OVP Venture Partners, Ignition Partners, and AIG Global Investment Group, but didn’t make an announcement. Why? Things have been too busy.

“We raised money to grow new markets,” says Talyst CEO Carla Corkern, who has just been named chairman of the board. “That’s what VCs like to invest in.”

Talyst is known for making software that helps pharmacies manage the flow of medications in hospitals and clinics. The idea is to automate the process of tracking drug inventory and filling prescriptions using smart management software and a touch-screen kiosk interface—sort of like going to a vending machine—and to do it in a safe, secure, and efficient way. The new markets Corkern wants to expand into are nursing homes and assisted living facilities, as well as prisons and other correctional facilities. Those facilities have many people who need medications, but may not have a pharmacist on-site, so they need an efficient way for a nurse or caretaker to package and dispense meds to patients.

“The long-term care market is a $2 billion market for facility-based automation which has a strong return on investment—needed for these times,” says Corkern.

To appreciate the significance of this new market strategy, you need to know the history—much of which occurred before Corkern joined the company. Talyst was founded in 2002 as Integrated Healthcare Systems, and raised some $29 million in venture funding in 2005 and 2006 (a total of $37.5 million prior to the latest round). By 2007, it had become a market leader in managing medications for hospital pharmacies.

Read the full article by Gregory T. Huang at xconomy.com