NurseGrid’s platform helps hospitals and other care providers with scheduling and staffing their nurse employees. (NurseGrid Photo)

Operating a hospital is no easy task, and at the moment, finding technology to help in that task is also a challenge.

NurseGrid, a Portland, Ore.,-based startup, is hoping to fill that gap with its staffing and scheduling technology platform exclusively for nurses. The company just raised a $5.7 million Series B funding round to further develop the platform and add new features, bringing its total funding to $9.3 million.

The round was led by Hatteras Venture Partners, a medicine-focused North Carolina fund which is a first-time investor in the company. Previous investors that took part in the round include Excelerate Health Ventures, Toba Capital, HealthBox, and the Portland Seed Fund.

NurseGrid founder and CEO Joe Novello. (NurseGrid Photo)

“We are proud to bring capital into Portland and especially excited to have so many local investors supporting our business and our hometown’s technology sector,” NurseGrid CEO and founder Joe Novello said in a news release. “We plan on using the funds to continue revolutionizing the way hospitals and healthcare facilities manage the schedule, open shifts, float pools, recruiting, and so much more. We have big plans for 2018.”

NurseGrid’s platform is aimed at solving a number of problems in hospitals, including filling empty shifts and helping companies retain nurses amidst a national talent shortage. It was founded by Novello, who is himself a longtime nurse.

“The nationwide nurse shortage is a well-documented crisis in our healthcare system,” Jeff Terrell, principal at Hatteras Venture Partners, said in a news release. “From the beginning, NurseGrid has demonstrated the ability to uniquely engage and connect with nurses to make their lives easier, to drive a broad set of efficiencies, and critically, for health system customers to improve employee retention and job satisfaction. Hatteras is thrilled to partner with this team.”

The company touted several impressive figures on its growth in 2017: Its team has nearly doubled to 34 employees and the NurseGrid mobile app has nearly half a million downloads.

The company also said that “85 percent of nurses said that when their department uses the technology, they are more satisfied at work and less likely to look for work elsewhere.”

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