Appature co-founder and CEO Kabir Shahani started his company to develop marketing tools for biotech, medical device and pharmaceutical companies. In 2007, the Seattle-based company had $9.6 million dollars in venture capital.
Since those early days, Appature has grown into a company with about 60 employees. It also has a bright future thanks to its recent acquisition by IMS Health.
Neither IMS nor Appature are talking about the purchase price. However, Shahani’s smiling face backs up his assertion that he is “super excited.”
“It’s a great return for our investors and employees. We’re very, very happy,” Shahani said according to reporting from xconomy. “We get to keep the same culture, same business structure and stay in Seattle.”
IMS Health is a New Jersey-based data provider that tracks prescription data for pharmaceutical companies. The company reportedly processes over 36 million global healthcare transactions every year.
IMS Health purchased DecisionView in April 2012 to utilize its platform to sign up patients for new pharma drug trials. The company also purchased PharmARC, an India-based company delivering commercial services and analytics.
The Appature marketing platform is attractive to IMS because it combines sales, marketing and industry data into one solution. Instead of just providing data about prescriptions to its pharmaceutical clients, IMS now has the capability to help them to develop effective marketing campaigns and analytics.
On its own, Appature had seen doubling revenue over the past few years, but it had never reached a point that it could sustain profitability. The company recently acquired Medivation, Avanir Pharmaceuticals and Ironwood Pharmaceuticals as clients.
Shahani is optimistic about his company’s future with IMS Health. “In fact, on day one, we’re going to be hiring like crazy. I think people are going to see IMS Appature as a tech powerhouse in Seattle.”
Edited by
Brooke Neuman
