Clinical trial software company Florence Healthcare announced Wednesday it had scored $27 million in a Series C-1 round led by Insight Partners.

The startup said the investment brings its total raise to $114.1 million. Florence announced an $80 million Series C in May 2021 and a $7.1 million Series B in 2019. 

WHAT IT DOES

Florence offers tools for managing clinical trials, including remotely setting up and monitoring trial sites, managing operations and administrative tasks, collecting digital documents and receiving informed consent from study participants. 

The investment will go toward hiring new team members, improving its product offerings and enhancing connectivity for its network of clinical trial sites and sponsors. 

"In our network, we are seeing new types of research sites come online because of the efficiency technology delivers, from pharmacies and labs to community clinics and primary care providers," Florence's chief clinical trial officer Catherine Gregor said in a statement. 

"These new patient access points will allow faster enrollment and increased diversity among trial participants, and that means drugs and devices will have a safety profile more inclusive of the patients they will treat. Additionally, increased representation in study participants will help sponsors better meet the evolving guidelines for regulatory approval."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

There are a growing number of players in the clinical trial technology and software space. Last week, pharmacy retail giant Walgreens announced the launch of its own clinical trial business, which it said focuses on improving diversity in studies and improving patient retention.

Patient data capture and clinical trial uMotif recently scooped up $25.5 million in funding to continue the company's international expansion. Meanwhile, Reify Health announced a $220 million Series D round in April, boosting its valuation to $4.8 billion. Decentralized clinical trial company Curebase also recently announced a $40 million Series B round. 

In February, clinical trial data collection and management company YPrime acquired Tryl, which focuses on lowering clinical trial dropout rates.