Hillsborough County, Florida
Founded: 2018
ProCredEx is an exchange and digital marketplace for verified professional credentials. Our firm connects established networks within the healthcare industry where this information is required as a function of commerce and regulatory compliance. We seek to simplify this work so that the professionals our communities rely upon can more effectively deliver care.
Information Technology
1000% increase from
2018 – 2021
490000000% increase from
2018 – 2021
Tell us a bit about yourself. What led you to start your company?
I’m someone that most would call a “classic serial entrepreneur.” ProCredEx is my 9th start-up with my first one being right out of college. I’ve pretty much been in early-stage company development my whole career, mostly around healthcare and healthcare technology.
I started a management consulting firm in 2001 focused on building and developing for large healthcare organizations. Under that business, we started three other different companies, with one being what has become Pro Cred Ex. Back in my consulting days, we did a lot of work around helping very large organizations fix credentialing operations and systems. It’s the process of making sure within a regulated industry, that a person, a piece of equipment, or an organization does what they claim they do and has the appropriate certifications and insurance coverages.
At the time, we saw frustration that everyone was doing their work in silos. Imagine the practitioners and the nurses of the world trying to concurrently maintain credential information with 25 – 30 organizations. There was no way, functionally, in the marketplace to collaborate and share that information. That was the genesis of what has become ProCredEx. We’ve built a platform that allows us to create credential marketplaces for regulated industries. Each of those markets can be configured to map the appropriate requirements of that industry. Additionally, every member can customize their presence to match their own internal credential requirements and guidelines.
We started building this back in 2014-2015 and was introduced by a customer to the Chief Medical Officer at Intel. He was enamored with what we were doing and suggested that we look into how we could use blockchain in our platform. He introduced me to a company in Nashville and collectively we formed our products as a joint venture. We funded the initial development of the company for almost six years and went out to raise capital after joining together. We were able to raise another round last summer and are raising another round right now. We’ve been incredibly successful thus far in our growth.
Our initial focus was healthcare, but then we were asked by the non-emergency medical transport industry to build a market for them. Now, we’re in the early process of also building out markets for emergency medical services for transportation, writ large, nursing, staffing, and home health care. Each of those industries has its own credential requirements guidelines where we come in.
What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced while growing your business?
We closed our first round in January 2020 and then COVID hit. It wasn’t a huge problem for us operationally, but it really extracted the healthcare market. That was one of the biggest reasons we made the hard pivot into the transport industry because they weren’t as affected by COVID as healthcare delivery was. In the summer we really started getting back into developing the healthcare market as the COVID disaster started to recede. That has been probably our biggest challenge in building out this business. We have a great group of initial customers and members who have been terrific to work with and help us bring this to market.
Where do you hope to see your company in the next 3 to 5 years?
We’re currently sitting on a pipeline of about $32 million a year and I’d like to push that up to around $100 million in three years.
Create collaborative networks and innovative tools that transform trusted data into reliable insights and eliminate waste. Be relentless in our pursuit of solutions that are immediately actionable, that complement existing processes, and that drive continuous improvement. Be guided by the needs of the community entrusted with safety, quality, and regulatory compliance.
Improved accessibility and quality of professional services across the community by modernizing credentialing and compliance practices and driving out waste.
Tell us about our company culture. How do you like to lead your team?
We have a very intended ethos as a company in how we operate, how we treat people, how we talk to customers, and how we work with customers. That has yielded an immensely strong internal culture. We’ve had zero turnovers since we founded the company. Turnover in employees, especially in the early stage is deadly. My job as a CEO is to set the pace, hire great leaders, get out of their way and let them do what they do to fruition. If you don’t treat people well, and you don’t value their participation and bring them to the table around big-picture decisions and concepts, you’re going to lose good people. We’ve done a terrific job with that and our team. I couldn’t be prouder.
Speaking of being proud, do you have a proudest moment as CEO
We did a statewide pilot in Tennessee that was led by the Tennessee Medicaid agency, the three Medicaid insurers that administer the program, state brokers, and about 20 transportation providers in the state. We piloted exceptionally well. When the pilot was over, they do a wrap-up meeting with everyone who had participated. The degree of their clear satisfaction and what they viewed the product will do for them in value was incredible. It literally almost brought tears to my tears. I don’t think that I could have asked for a better outcome. That’s what turned our pipeline on fire.
What does it mean to you to be selected as a GrowFL Florida Companies to Watch Honoree?
First, it’s very humbling. Mostly, I think it represents to our whole team that we are doing exceptional things and we’re not your typical healthcare-tech startup. Rather, we’re a special company and a special place to work. I am so proud of my team for that. That’s who I want to thank. Collectively, our team is the reason why we’ve been successful. This is their recognition.
Believe in yourself. Ask lots of questions. And don’t buy into your own story – make sure that the market validates what you think and that it’s something of value to them. You have to ask will someone buy this and what are they willing to pay for it? You may think you have all the right answers, but ask your customers to validate every little thing that you think is important about what you’re doing.
GrowFL is driven by one goal – to cultivate second-stage growth companies across the state. Second-stage companies are the backbone of Florida’s economy and the definition of economic success and prosperity.
GrowFL, through our diverse programs and services, provides proven methods to help overcome unique challenges facing second-stage companies as they grow.
