Curvo Labs Aims to Help Hospitals Make Better Purchasing Decisions

April 4, 2017

Throughout his career working in the hospital supply chain, Curvo Labs CEO Andy Perry has seen a lot of changes. In the past decade, in particular, the rise of value-based reimbursement policies and new technologies have altered the way hospitals make purchases.

In the past, it was up to the sales people at innovative medical device manufacturers to connect with hospital purchasing offices. Perry is building Curvo to bring more efficiency to that process: The company analyzes reams of hospital purchasing data to get cutting-edge machines into the hands of doctors sooner, and at lower cost.

“Hospitals had market disincentives for a long time, but that has changed a lot over the past 10 years due to reimbursement pressure,” Perry says. “They are beginning to recognize the strategic importance of the supply chain.” Plus, he contends there’s “a real bandwidth problem” internally at hospitals, meaning administrators rarely have enough time to do deep research ahead of procurement decisions.

To combat these challenges, Evansville, IN-based Curvo offers software on a subscription basis that “powers workflows, making it fast and easy to manage clinical expenses,” Perry explains.

Curvo’s proprietary technology automates the sourcing process, with tools to shorten long contracting cycles and eliminate the manual work of consulting and cross-referencing data. By connecting to vendors online Perry says, Curvo can help hospital administrators engage clinicians and better manage their spending.

Perry says Curvo’s software is easy to operate. Users upload their purchase history data; review customized spending plans; select projects, product categories, and vendors; and begin tracking contractors.

“A lot of these hospitals are used to big, complicated ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems,” Perry points out. “With ours, they turn it on and use it instantly, like Facebook. There’s no set up.”

The 12-person company, which launched in 2013, pairs an agile software development environment with strong hospital supply chain knowledge, Perry says. The company has raised a total of $2.1 million over several rounds from a variety of sources, including angel investors, Elevate Ventures, and local entrepreneurs like Kent Parker, founder of Snake River Capital.

“We’ve had outstanding support so far,” he adds. “We’re very grateful for their guidance as well as their capital.”

Curvo plans to grow with a new product this year, though Perry declined to provide details.