Gestalt Diagnostics Inc., a Spokane-based pathology-tech company, has raised $7.5 million in Series A funding that will facilitate broader market adoption and help further grow the young company, says CEO Dan Roark. 

Gestalt's funding round is the latest in a spate of Series A rounds completed by Inland Northwest-based companies in recent months. As previously reported by the Journal, those companies include Spokane Valley-based CarbonQuest Inc., which secured $20 million in funds; Gierd Inc., of Sandpoint, which raised $8 million; Impact Laboratories Services Inc., with $4.95 million; and Qualterra Inc., of Pullman, Washington, $4.5 million. 

The funding round for Gestalt was led by Cowles Ventures LLC; Tacoma Venture Fund LLC; Inland Imaging Investments LLC; KickStart Funds; and other angel investors from the Pacific Northwest. 

“Our workflow product has been a game changer in the industry,” Roark says. “In the world of digital pathology, we like to say we’re replacing the microscope-based workflow.” 

As reported by the Journal, Gestalt's leading software product, PathFlow, is a digital platform that was developed to reduce the time it takes to review pathology samples by creating digital scans of those samples, which enables pathologists to review them more quickly and download and share them with their colleagues. PathFlow is used by leading health care, academic medical centers, and research organizations, Roark says. 

The new funding will enable the company to apply for clearance from the Food and Drug Administration, which will facilitate broader market adoption and increased profitability, he says. 

The company is also hiring to broaden its base, though the number has not yet been determined.  Gestalt has also changed the composition of its five-member board to include advisors from more varied backgrounds. It includes Roark; Chris Patrick, CEO of Inland Imaging; Steve Rector, chief financial officer for Cowles Ventures, the investment arm of Cowles Co.; Bill Driscoll, president of Tacoma Venture Fund and chairman and CEO of Clearwater Management Co.; and Octavio Morales, a business executive within the data industry and Whitworth University business advisory board member.  

Tom Simpson, president of the Spokane Angel Alliance, who helped Roark lead the funding round, says Gestalt Diagnostics is poised for “explosive growth.” 

“The funding is gas in the tank to pursue more customers,” he says. 

Chris Patrick notes that Gestalt Diagnostics, a spinoff of Inland Imaging, has been successful by leaning into the same endeavors that made Inland Imaging successful: digitization.

Inland Imaging, a radiology company founded in 1930, started out using film and intensifying screens. Patrick says that about 25 years ago, the company began to digitize its services, which proved to be a successful venture. In 2016, leaders at the company saw the same need for digitization within pathology and worked to raise capital and launch Gestalt as a spinoff of Inland Imaging. 

“If we can do it (digitization) in radiology, why not pathology?” Patrick recalls. 

Patrick says that it was important for Gestalt to first lay the groundwork to create a core system of digitization before moving on to the use of artificial intelligence. While other companies have tried to do what Gestalt is doing, he claims those companies are more focused on integrating AI workflows and are lacking the core system of digitization that Gestalt worked to build over the years. 

“It’s a significant time for Gestalt, doing incredible work,” he says. “And can ride the wave of digitization in the pathology space.” 

Roark says digital imaging has been transformative to the industry, which allows pathologists to access everything they need to work their case in a single or remote location. Professionals can also leverage AI algorithms and easily share cases with other pathologists, among other benefits, he says. 

“We’re really the cockpit for the pathologist today,” Roark says. “If they can work from home, they can work when they’re traveling. They can work at their lake house or wherever they may be.” 

Gestalt Diagnostics was founded in 2017 and is located on the first floor of the SIERR building, at 850 E. Spokane Falls Blvd. in Spokane’s University District.  The company has over 25 employees spread between here, Boise, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Boston.