Seattle-based startup bttn, which aims to modernize the healthcare distribution marketplace, raised $20 million in a Series A round led by Tiger Global. The funding pushes the year-old company to a $110 million valuation.
Bttn, pronounced “button,” aims to reduce costs and eliminate the middleman in the procurement of medical supplies. It now serves more than 7,000 clients and has grown to a workforce of 75 employees, with the pandemic providing it with an initial tailwind.
The startup says it gained access to eight distribution and fulfillment centers in April. These facilities have contributed to its shorter fulfillment times, which now average about three days from the initial order. It also gained access to more than 2.5 million medical supplies from name-brand manufacturers.
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While broader economic trends have made it difficult for many startups to raise capital, bttn CEO and co-founder JT Garwood said that his startup is insulated from this trend because of the broad market it serves and the inelastic nature of the industry. The wholesale medical supply market is expected to reach more than $300 billion in 2022.
“Healthcare and health-tech is a very broad category,” said Garwood, who previously worked as a senior account executive at Microsoft. “It’s extremely ripe for investment.”
Garwood co-founded the company with software engineer Jack Miller. Both Garwood and Miller also worked together at PPE.Exchange, an online marketplace for PPE and other medical supplies co-founded by Garwood.
New York-based Tiger Global has made headlines recently as it made a flurry of bets on tech startups over the past several years, only to have gains “vaporized” with the ongoing economic downturn, the Wall Street Journal reported. The firm has cut back on investments in later-stage companies, instead focusing on younger startups, the Journal reported.
The funding comes less than a year after bttn raised $6.5 million in a seed round led by Bellevue, Wash.-based venture firm FUSE, which also participated in the latest round. Bttn’s total funding to date is $26.5 million.
