firming up health tech
Houston creative agency teams up with Florida firm to launch digital health platform
Houston-based digital and creative agency DECODE is now part of a new health care technology and services platform called Unlock Health.
The new platform came about through the combination of DECODE, which serves the health care market, and Bradenton, Florida-based Eruptr, an agency specializing in digital marketing for the health care sector.
The Nashville-based platform is backed by Greenwich, Connecticut-based Amulet Capital Partners, a private equity firm that focuses solely on the health care sector, and New York City-based Athyrium Capital Management, an asset manager that concentrates on the health care sector.
Unlock Health delivers consulting, marketing, and technology services to customers such as health care systems, physician groups, and specialty health care providers. Brandon Edwards is CEO of the new platform, and Shannon McIntyre Hooper is president.
DECODE and Eruptr will continue to operate under their respective brands and be led by their existing management teams. Houston native Kathleen Perley remains aboard as CEO of DECODE, which she founded in 2013.
“With the launch of Unlock Health, we will have the benefits of increased scale and a broader range of market-leading services and expertise to support clients as they navigate and compete in a rapidly evolving industry,” Perley says in a news release.
DECODE saw revenue three-year growth of 131 percent from 2019 to 2021, making it one of the country’s fastest-growing private companies during that span.
The new venture employs about 120 people.
“We recognize the tremendous potential and impact a trusted one-stop provider of integrated marketing, consulting, and tech enablement can have in breaking down long-standing barriers for health care organizations,” Edwards says.
He adds that the new platform will remove “the guesswork from growth” and help health care organizations “succeed now and in the future.”