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ShiftRx, a staffing and administrative platform for pharmacists, raised $3.5 million in a seed round, CEO Autumn-Kyoko Cushman tells Axios exclusively. 

Why it matters: There is a major shortage of pharmacists, due mainly to burnout.    

Zoom in: The round was led by Work-Bench and with participation from Inflect Health, Tau and Opal Ventures.

How it works: The Austin-based startup that was founded last year, uses large-language models to onboard, source and schedule temporary pharmacists.

Each facility using the platform has its own module, enabling the seamless integration of a temporary provider into a new clinical workflow.

It currently operates in Texas and California and works with more than 150 pharmacies and over 2,000 providers in those two states. 

There are tens of thousands of facilities and providers on the waitlist in the remaining 48 states.

What's next: The fresh funds will be used to expand into other states.

"Our next state will be Florida in the coming weeks," Cushman says.

This round will provide 18 to 24 months of runway for the revenue generating company, and she said profitability is not a priority right now.

"We're solving for a huge problem and there is tremendous market opportunity."

Driving the news: Pharmacies are struggling to refill their own ranks.

Health care spending continues to rise, with projections reaching $4.8 trillion, companies are increasingly focusing on optimizing their logistics and staffing strategies to manage costs effectively.

State of play: A wave of capital is being deployed to companies that are decreasing administrative burden and allowing clinicians to practice at the top of their license more often. 

Humata Health raised $25 million for prior authorization in June.

Hippocratic AI raised $53 million in March and has its own AI Pharmacy agents.

Exclusive: ShiftRx raises $3.5M for pharmacy staffing

There is a major shortage of pharmacists, due mainly to burnout.

Illustration of a price tag shaped and colored like a prescription pill bottle

Health tech deals

ShiftRx, a staffing and administrative platform for pharmacists, raised $3.5 million in a seed round, CEO Autumn-Kyoko Cushman tells Axios exclusively. Why it matters: <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="There is a major shortage of pharmacists" data-vars-click-url="https://www.pcom.edu/academics/programs-and-degrees/doctor-of-pharmacy/school-of-pharmacy/blog/the-pharmacist-shortage.html" data-vars-content-id="9593e23f-d31a-490b-b35e-3b396e9b839f" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: ShiftRx raises $3.5M for pharmacy staffing" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.pcom.edu/academics/programs-and-degrees/doctor-of-pharmacy/school-of-pharmacy/blog/the-pharmacist-shortage.html" target="_blank">There is a major shortage of pharmacists</a>, due mainly to burnout.

Exclusive: ShiftRx raises $3.5M for pharmacy staffing

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