Professional Credentials Exchange, BlockSpaces raise capital

Two local technology companies that tap blockchain technology have fresh capital after completing seed funding rounds.

Professional Credentials Exchange, a Tampa company with a digital marketplace for healthcare organizations, raised $3.5 million, while BlockSpaces, a blockchain technology development studio in Tampa, raised $100,000.

Both companies focus on blockchain technology, also known as distributed ledger technology, a digital information storage system that is best known as the technology behind cryptocurrencies, but with a variety of other uses.

For BlockSpaces, which is based at Embarc Collective in downtown Tampa, the just-completed angel/seed round was a milestone. Other than a small bridge loan, it’s the first outside capital for the company.

The funding came from a local investor, John Rasmussen, said Rosa Shores, BlockSpaces co-founder.

“BlockSpaces will be using these funds to develop a B2B Blockchain-As-A-Service (BaaS) platform designed for mid-market enterprises,” Shores told the St. Pete Catalyst.

The company now is in the process of a larger $750,000 seed round, and also is converting from a limited liability company to a Delaware C Corporation.

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Professional Credentials Exchange raised its new capital in a round led by Spectrum Health Ventures, the venture capital arm of Spectrum Health. Additional investors include Martin Ventures, The Hardenbergh Group, Florida Funders and several strategic healthcare executives, a news release said.

The investors want to simplify the work involved in healthcare practitioner credentialing, and reduce the time and effort involved to initially onboard and retain healthcare practitioners.

ProCredEx has developed a digital marketplace leveraging distributed ledger, advanced data science and machine learning technologies to provide a solution for credentialing organizations to readily share, exchange and monetize their credential verification data within a secure, private and reliable community, the news release said.

ProCredEx was formed two years ago as a joint venture between Hashed Health and Tenon Consulting Solutions. The firm is launching a statewide pilot initially across the Michigan healthcare market, and has several additional regional markets it plans to open later in the year.