Startup founded by Lexington native close to securing $2 million in new funding

Original Story By Laurel Deppen, The Business Journals

Lexington, Ky — Joshua Lau, a Tates Creek and UK grad is close to closing a $2 million round of funding for a medical/IT startup he launched in 2018.

According to a report in The Business Journal, the idea for nymbl.systems came to founder Josh Lau while he was working in IT consulting for small- to medium-sized health care groups. In this work, he came across an orthodontics and prosthetics provider, who asked for his help researching a new software for them.

“I spent about six months doing research, talking to other software providers, and really, there was nothing that could suit the industry’s needs,” Lau said. “So [I] jokingly spoke to the owner one night, like ‘Why don’t I start my own software company?’ He said that was a great idea.”

That provider became one of nymbl’s earliest investors and customers. The company, founded in 2016 in Lexington, Kentucky, launched its product in June 2018.

The clinics that use nymbl are typically outpatient care or retail medical device providers — these tools include wheelchairs, canes, hospital beds and the like. Nymbl’s clients range from startups and small businesses to larger enterprise groups, Lau said.

Today, nymbl is an electronic health record system and practice management software solution for the durable medical equipment vertical of health care. It helps clinics manage scheduling, patient records, billing and inventory.

The startup’s platform is used like a typical medical office system. Medical staff uses it for scheduling, patient intake, billing and insurance. Providers can also chart patient information in the program.

Lau added that hospitals aren’t a part of the company’s client base, even though some of the clinics it services may be owned by hospitals.

Nymbl has raised about $5.7 million in venture funding to date. It is gearing up to close another funding round, which would add $2 million in fresh capital, Lau said. This will be nymbl’s second formal funding round.

Nymbl has more than a dozen investors, mainly super-angel investors and corporate investors, Lau said. It is working to close a deal with an institutional investor.

Lau is leaving the possibility open to raise more funding, but he hopes this latest round will help nymbl reach profitability.

Nymbl employs 22 people and is looking to hire five more within the next 90 days, Lau said. In the next year, he hopes to bring on an additional 12 more.

The company’s employees work as developers, customer success support, trainers, sales and the like. Nymbl also has C-suite executives: COO Chad Feinberg and CFO Jon Bishop.

In addition to growing its team, Lau said the company is gearing up for sales growth. Medical software has a long sales cycle, he said, so it is just reaching the tipping point of closing deals with larger medical groups, both regional and national companies. That will creates a snowball effect, he continued.

Nymbl is used in about 700 clinics around the world, but a majority of that is in the United States. By the end of the year, Lau hopes to be in 900-1,100 clinics.

Lau’s longterm goal is to dominate the space, taking over at least 50% of market share or more.

“It’s not only just to provide the best software … But [we] try to help these providers, and even the hospital groups and these patients [that] are getting referred to our providers have better outcomes as well,” Lau said.

Lau said the company has doubled in revenue year-over-year since 2019. He anticipates growing by three or four times this year.