Dental software start-up raises millions

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, India/CELEBRATION, Fla., US: The days of dental clinics using multiple software solutions are numbered, according to health technology start-up CareStack. The six-year-old dental software company raised $22.5 million (€18.6 million) in capital in April, bringing the total amount of funds raised by the company to more than $60 million, and it now plans to expand its operations and double the size of its team.

When it comes to funding rounds for start-up companies, continued investment by the same capital providers says a lot. The $22.5 million that CareStack raised in April came from the same group of investors that put $28 million worth of capital behind the company in 2019. Among its investors is the Californian branch of the dental insurer Delta Dental.

CareStack was founded in 2015 by Dr Mark Huzyak and Abhilash Krishna. Huzyak had been practising dentistry for around three decades and found that the software systems that were available to dental clinics were insufficient to support the growth of his group practice. He approached Krishna—who led an India-based group of software experts—and the two of them created a cloud-based technology platform that combined various software packages into one solution. So the story goes, according to company information.

The basic idea behind CareStack’s solutions is that streamlining software packages simplifies daily work routines, improves patient interaction and allows dental teams more time to focus on patient care. Judging by the numbers, the idea is being well received. CareStack expanded rapidly from its initial team of 15 and now employs a staff of 300 in India and the US, serving 2,000 oral care providers with a cumulative 5 million secure patient records.

“For too long, dental practices have unsuccessfully used multiple software solutions bolted on top of traditional dental software to manage daily operations,” said Krishna, CEO of CareStack. He explained to the Singapore-based business media outlet DealStreetAsia: “CareStack enables offices to move away from the complexities of using multiple fragmented solutions and manage everything through one complete modern dental software.”

Shekhar Kirani of Accel, which participated in the funding round, told DealStreetAsia that, in a short space of time, CareStack has established itself as a market leader in the software-as-a-service dental market in North America. “This growth is fuelled by the passion and commitment of the CareStack team. Accel is excited to be part of it,” he told the publication.