Nestor, a Louisiana-based Healthcare Software Company, recently secured $1 million in funding after completing The Idea Village’s IDEAinstitute early-stage accelerator program.
Co-founders Shawn Johnston (CEO) and Jordy Davidson created the software as a service (SaaS) company based on the needs that Johnston saw firsthand during his 15+ years of chiropractic experience. He worked with outdated EHR (Electronic Health Record) systems and saw the need for improved software.
“The original goal was to build a third-party app that would integrate into EHR, but after many customer interviews, we quickly realized that these therapists didn’t need another app; what they needed and wanted was a modern, comprehensive EHR software that would streamline their practice,” Davidson told Hypepotamus.
Designing Nestor With A Purpose
Nestor’s technology aims to decrease therapists’ screen-time to increase their direct patient interactions and meet the needs of individual practitioners and small clinics.
Most EHR systems are designed for medical doctors, while Nestor’s EHR system is tailored to the workflows and challenges of “conservative therapists” like chiropractors, physical therapists and massage therapists who specialize in noninvasive, non-surgical treatments.
“The lack of intuitive user interfaces [for conservative therapists] often means longer learning curves and more time spent on documentation instead of patient care,” added Davidson.
Nestor aims to solve issues surrounding interoperability between systems, falling behind on regulatory changes and time spent inputting data that often occur when working with EHRs. Nestor’s innovative system understands and supports conservative therapists by catering to their direct needs, offering an intuitive interface that includes specialized templates and seamless integration with other office softwares (appointment scheduling systems, billing software, etc.).
Path to funding
The team said the $1 million funding, coming from “multiple investors” after finishing the Louisiana-based IDEAinstitute early-stage accelerator program. The funding has helped the startup bring on six news hires. The team recently hired an internal development team, a product manager, and “experts in marketing and strategy.”
Corey James, current mentor at The Idea Village and previous Program Director at the organization, was a particularly important advocate for the early-stage company.
The 10-week IDEAinstitute program covers a new topic each session and “introduces innovative entrepreneurs and potential startup founders to the tools they need to turn an idea into a scalable venture.” Founders are offered one-on-one coaching opportunities and finish the course with Pitch Night, where they showcase their startup ideas to a panel of esteemed judges for the chance to win a cash prize.
“Our involvement with IDEAinstitute was a strategic move. We saw it as an opportunity to gain mentorship industry insights and to fine-tune our business model,” added Davidson. “The program greatly impacted Nestor by providing us with invaluable resources, networks, and the chance to engage with seasoned professionals. It sharpened our focus, validated our ideas, and laid down a roadmap for our journey ahead.”
Nestor is ready to redefine the physical therapy landscape and is expected to fully launch in late 2023 to early 2024.
