Cleardata Networks, a US-based healthcare cloud computing platform and service provider, has held a second closing of its series B funding round at $14m, in order to bring in Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, the corporate venture capital investment affiliate of US-based healthcare company Merck, alongside investors including Excel Venture Management and Norwest Venture Partners.
The funding will be used to maximize growth in the health information technology (HIT) cloud computing market.
Joe Volpe, investment principal for Merck Global Health Innovation Group, said: “Cleardata has the potential to be an important data steward for protected health information in the health care industry. As the need to analyze vast amounts of data increases, ‘Big Data’ presents opportunities to improve patient health.”
Darin Brannan, chief executive officer of Cleardata, said: “The IT demands on healthcare organizations are greater than ever — and they will continue to grow as Big Data and analytics take hold in the industry. Our investors recognize the escalating need for hosting and services in the cloud that can help these organizations reduce IT costs while improving productivity, reliability, security, regulatory compliance, business continuity and agility.”
Cleardata states that “the $35 billion healthcare information technology market is growing at an estimated 20 percent annually, fueled by the need for thousands of healthcare providers to migrate to electronic records and maintain vast amounts of data.”