Florence, an Atlanta-based clinical trials software company, is pleased to announce it has completed a $7.1 million Series B financing round led by Fulcrum Equity Partners with participation from Atrium Health and Bee Partners. The investment comes as Florence begins building digital connectivity between its rapidly growing global network of 5,000+ clinical trial sites and clinical trial sponsors for essential study document and data exchange.

"Clinical drug trials are slower and more expensive than ten years ago, halting access to cutting edge medicines," says Ryan Jones, CEO of Florence. "We are on a mission to fix this. Over the past five years, we've built the largest network of connected clinical trial sites through our eBinders platform. Our new partners, Fulcrum, Atrium, and Bee, will now allow us to digitally connect sites to pharmaceutical sponsors and clinical research organizations (CROs), creating a new type of research network that speeds progress."

"Between July 2018 and July 2019, the activity of sponsors and CRO users on the Florence platform increased by 229%," says Blake Adams, Head of Marketing for Florence. "The rapid adoption by sponsors/CROs is a result of both the platform functionality and the cost savings resulting from remotely connecting to sites, as well as response to the increasing regulatory pressure for real-time oversight of trial sites."

"This secure connectivity enables rapid exchange of study documents and data," says Jones, "ultimately accelerating medical advancements for patients while reducing drug development costs and compliance risks."

Jeff Muir, Partner at Fulcrum Equity Partners, said, "Fulcrum is thrilled to back Ryan and the Florence team at this critical stage of the Company's growth. Their platform squarely fits our investment thesis of finding technology solutions that help solve critical business problems, particularly in the healthcare ecosystem. We congratulate them on their progress to date and are excited for their next chapter of success."

"What excites us the most about Florence is the potential to create a SaaS-enabled marketplace, in addition to simply delivering high-value software to sites and sponsors," says Garrett Golberg of Bee Partners. "With the customer network density on the site side increasing, we can focus on delivering high-quality product up the value chain."

"Atrium Health is committed to ensuring lifesaving clinical trials are accessible to our patients, close to home," said Dr. Rasu Shrestha, Executive Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer at Atrium Health. "This platform has the potential to greatly impact the care our physicians and researchers are able to extend through clinical trials, and we are excited to be a part of the team helping to move this technology forward."

The investment round, which closed in September 2019, will be used to broaden Florence's product offerings, as well as expand its sales, marketing, and customer success teams.

About Fulcrum Equity Partners
Fulcrum Equity Partners is an Atlanta-based growth equity firm focused on providing expansion capital to rapidly growing companies. Fulcrum targets companies that are looking to raise $5 million - $20 million and will consider $3 million - $4 million initial investments in companies that expect to raise additional capital over time. Fulcrum invests in B2B SaaS, healthcare service, HCIT and technology-enabled operating companies. Fulcrum provides financing to meet a wide range of needs including internal growth initiatives, acquisitions, divestitures, shareholder liquidity and recapitalizations. The partners have over 130 years of relevant experience, including operations, venture capital, mezzanine financing, accounting, law, investment banking and strategy consulting. - www.fulcrumep.com

About Atrium Health
Atrium Health, previously Carolinas HealthCare System, one of the nation's leading and most innovative healthcare organizations, provides a full spectrum of healthcare and wellness programs throughout the Southeast region. Its diverse network of care locations includes academic medical centers, hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, physician practices, surgical and rehabilitation centers, home health agencies, nursing homes and behavioral health centers, as well as hospice and palliative care services. Atrium Health works to enhance the overall health and well-being of its communities through high-quality patient care, education and research programs, and numerous collaborative partnerships and initiatives. - www.atriumhealth.org

About Bee Partners
At Bee Partners, we embrace the reality that machines will win at precision, complexity, and data inference. Humans will still own purpose, ingenuity, and instinct. We seek exceptional Founders with unbounded potential who execute. We then write them their first check, and live their mission. As a result, we have been that first check writer in 65% of our portfolio, we've led 17 of our last 20 investments, 70% of our companies succeed to the Series A, and we resolve 95% of our portfolio requests within 48 hours. - www.beepartners.vc