With $6 million in funding, DICOM Grid becomes Ambra Health

New York-based DICOM (Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine) Grid, makers of a cloud-based, medical imaging software, is rebranding itself as Ambra Health and appointing a new chief employee with the help of a $6 million fundraising gift.

The funding, led by Silicon Valley-based Canaan Partners, will help support sales and marketing initiatives and increase product development. This second round of financing brings the company’s total funding to $39 million.

Ambra’s software allows physicians and patients to store x-ray, MRI and CT images on a cloud database that can be easily shared with other physicians while allowing patients to have full access to medical information.

With more than 750 healthcare providers using its network, Ambra’s clients range from the Mayo Clinic and Stanford Children’s Health to private radiology practices.

The company changed its name after hearing from customers that the platform extends beyond just DICOM services, said CEO Morris Panner in an interview with Radiology Business. Ambra—which means "amber" in Italian—was chosen because amber is a natural resource with healing properties.

“In some very broad way, we think of ourselves as healing what really ails the healthcare information system, which is the failure to be able to get the information you need when you need it,” Panner said. “That’s true for doctors and for patients. Everybody is pretty unhappy with the state of information access and integration right now.”

Panner said the funding will be put toward broadening and improving their software so that it can handle new data types and formats as it becomes more comprehensive for providers.

Help with software improvements will be the charge of Ed Marshall, who began serving as Ambra’s chief product officer this summer. He was previously senior vice president and general manager of services industry at business software company NetSuite.

“He comes with a wealth of software and enterprise experience and it reflects the enhanced capabilities that we bring as we provide larger systems,” Panner said.

A yearly software subscription price depends on a health systems’ size and how much they use it. Pricing can range anywhere from $15,000 to more than $100,000.

Panner would not disclose revenue figures, but said that the company saw a 70 percent increase in growth in 2015. For the first half of 2016, revenue has nearly doubled.

As Ambra continues to grow, it plans to launch Think RADical on Sept. 29, a series of in-person and online events designed to help healthcare leaders improve medical imaging technology. Ambra will be recruiting panelists from a pool of current and prospective customers, as well as industry leaders, Panner said.

“Think RADical is intricately tied to our mission of making sure that innovation and thought leadership permeates everything we do,” Panner said. “It is an opportunity for our partners, our customers and thought leaders in the field to understand what’s possible and share with each other how they are solving these problems and how they’re making progress.”