In September, Microsoft selected the first small business to receive $50 million in capital as a part of its latest initiative to support small businesses. Now, CourMed — a healthcare solution concierge delivery service founded by a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) graduate — is officially the first recipient.
“The fund means a great deal to us as a startup,” said founder and CEO Derrick L. Miles in an interview with Yahoo!Finance. “It gives us the opportunity to go out and recruit A players. I believe that there’s a competitive advantage in the startup marketplace, and it’s the team who has the most A players who’s going to eventually win. So it’ll give us an opportunity to recruit marketing, IT, and sales executives to help us move a lot quicker.”
Not only will Miles receive access to funding that is in the form of zero-interest loans from the computer company’s banking partner, but as an official Microsoft partner, CourMed will offer its services in order to benefit employees who utilize Microsoft software programs.
As AfroTech previously reported and theGrio previously revealed, “CourMed acquired six figures in its first year of business and worked to scale by 300 percent in their second year through local celebrity endorsements that appealed to their audience.” Now, thanks to non-dilutive funding, the company looks to grow in the market to further diversify its offerings and go beyond just delivery.
With additional funding and resources, they have plans in place to provide enterprise software and innovative concierge delivery services to patients.
“We started off as a pharmaceutical delivery company, then we saw opportunities to deliver vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, IV vitamin therapy, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera,” Miles said. “And I would say the bee in our bonnet which makes us really unique in how we continue to partner, is that we help our partners; physicians, nurses, pharmacies, actually make more money and make more margin on the monies that they are able to deliver to homes, corporate offices and luxury hotels through our software.”
