is equity investment and the remaining $400,000 is a loan from Madison Development Corp. Quietyme’s backers include American Family Ventures, the investment arm of the Madison, WI-based insurance giant, the Milwaukee-based BrightStar Wisconsin Foundation, and “several other Midwestern organizations and individuals,” he says. Quietyme is expecting to close a Series A funding round in 2016.
Zoroufy says he does not know of any companies developing devices that can do everything Quietyme’s sensors and CareCube can. The startup’s biggest competitors may be hospitals that believe they can solve noise problems themselves. Some of them, following initiatives to educate staff about the problem, have come to Quietyme because “awareness campaigns couldn’t move the needle on noise,” says Zoroufy.
In the future, hospitals may permit admitted patients to communicate directly with hospital departments using their own gadgets, Zoroufy says. That could render hardware like CareCube obsolete, but he says at present health systems are focused on patient engagement using the devices they own.
“Integrating patient smartphones and tablets is absolutely in our roadmap,” Zoroufy says. “But how far down the road that is depends on the willingness of patients to bring them in and staff to verify them. Hospital-provided technology is more common right now.”
