Tom Furr, CEO at Durham-based PatientPay, has plenty of good news to share with Triangle entrepreneurs:

  • About the company he leads
  • About jobs
  • And about how a Triangle firm accomplished something that is very uncommon – attracting investment from Silicon Valley.

On Tuesday, PatientPay, which provides cloud-based payment services to more than 30,000 healthcare providers, disclosed a $2.5 million investment from San Francisco-based Mosaik Partners.

In a Q&A interview with WRAL TechWire, Furr talks about the deal and what it means:

  • Congratulations of the new funding. Please explain what this means to the company and its previous investors in terms of confidence and validation.

This funding round serves as confirmation that PatientPay’s innovative online patient billing and payment service is gaining traction that boosts our confidence by validating the strength of our business model. Today PatientPay reaches more than 30,000 physicians through its partnerships with practice management software vendors. We intend to use the funds secured in this latest round, which was led by Mosaik Partners and included participation by our previous investors, in two focused ways. First, we will increase the number of medical practices making use of our service. And, second, we will expand the capabilities of our service by adding to our platform enabling practices to understand pricing and patients to pay at time of service.

  • I also would imagine this is a boost to your team’s confidence. How does this strengthen your group going forward?

We’ve always been confident in the quality of our technology, the value of our service and the validity of our business model. When a VC firm like Mosaik Partners opts to lead a funding round, that adds to our confidence. More importantly, it allows us to continue driving the growth of our company and bringing the benefits of PatientPay to physician groups and patients nationwide.

  • Do you plan to hire additional people – if so how many and in what areas? How many employees currently?

We do plan to hire additional employees in sales, marketing and business development. We currently have 12 on our team today and expect that number to bump up over the next year.

  • How did you meet/draw the interest of a Silicon Valley firm, which is still a rare occurrence for RTP area companies?

We were introduced to Mosaik through a mutual partner who thought we would be a good fit with their portfolio. Since they are actively involved in cloud-based payment technology, they took a keen interest in what we were doing.

  • What can other local entrepreneurs learn from your experience in securing Valley interest and investment?

PatientPay is pursuing a large market opportunity with a unique technology that holds value and benefit for all participants, from investors to partners, physicians and, of course, healthcare consumers. To accomplish our goals the PatientPay team has had passion, market experience and most importantly persistence. In my opinion, regardless of market size or offering, those are needed elements for a start-up to succeed, let alone gain the attention of Silicon Valley venture capital firms.

  • Cloud-based epayment solutions are growing increasingly common. What is the “secret sauce” that sets your firm apart? Is your IP patented/protected?

Our IP is protected and patented. We have three issued patents (U.S. Patent No. 8,155,983, 8,204,764 and 8,214,233) that provide the basis for our technology. While the patents are important, our technology platform, the usability of the application, our partners and the inherent need in the market combined make up our secret sauce.

  • Who came up with the original concept for the technology and what was the driving pain point that led to a concept worthy of building a company around?

Our team saw the changes taking shape in healthcare prompting us to build out the concept that has become PatientPay. Marketplace drivers that make PatientPay so vital in today’s healthcare business environment include the Affordable Care Act and the growth of high-deductible health plans. PatientPay offers the ability to have patients’ obligations paid easily with no change to medical practices’ existing workflow. All a practice needs to do is collect an email from their patients to enable e-billing.