Medical tech company moves HQ to Austin, plans hiring spree

ClearData Networks Inc., a medical technology company based in Tempe, Arizona, plans to move its headquarters to Austin and hire as many as 80 people.

The company chose Austin because of its technology talent and livability, the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce said in an announcement. Additionally, 20 employees will move to Austin with the company, the chamber said.

“As a leader in digital health care cloud services, we have much to look forward to as we expand in Austin,” Aaron Barfoot, chief financial officer of ClearData, said in a statement. “Austin’s growing health care industry, world-renowned technology sector and highly educated talent pool make it a great opportunity for our company.”

ClearData, which has other offices in San Francisco and San Antonio, was founded in 2009 and develops a cloud computing platform for physicians and health care companies to securely store and share their data. The company said more than 320,000 health care professionals use its services. The company plans to keep its office in Tempe, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

ClearData raised $25 million last May to expand its sales and marketing team and continue developing its software, the Phoenix Business Journal reports. That over-subscribed Series C funding round boosted the company’s two-year funding haul to $42 million.

With the Dell Medical School coming online this fall and an “Innovation District” planned to attract med tech startups, the health care and medical technology industry is expected to grow its share of the Austin economy.

The Austin Chamber and Opportunity Austin, a five-county public-private economic development group, met with ClearData leaders to introduce them to Austin. Cushman & Wakefield/Oxford Commercial is helping ClearDATA find office space in downtown Austin.

“ClearData is entering the Austin market at a key time for our health care ecosystem,” said Phil Wilson, chairman of Opportunity Austin. “With the convergence of technology, health care and innovation, they join a growing number of companies seeing the potential in the Austin region.”

Originally published in the Austin Business Journal on February 18, 2016.