HEALTHCARE
Karoo Health’s CEO cited challenges attracting workers to New Mexico
A venture-backed cardiac health firm founded in Albuquerque is moving to Denver, citing challenges attracting its growing workforce to New Mexico.
Launched in 2021, Karoo Health partners with cardiology practices to connect their patients to wraparound services, including nutritionists and pharmacists employed by the startup.
Care is coordinated through Karoo’s online platform, which also aggregates patients’ data to flag health risks. If the firm’s services keep patients healthier and lower their costs of care, Karoo splits the savings with insurers and providers.
Karoo has been set on expansion in recent years — and co-founder and CEO Ian Koons says it’s outgrown its New Mexico roots.
“You can’t build a full-sized business here in terms of the talent,” Koons said. He said it was hard to convince young professionals to stay in Albuquerque, where concerns about crime and school quality could deter them from settling in.
Karoo has signed a three-year lease for offices at 1925 Blake St. in downtown Denver.
The firm’s 80 corporate employees are scattered across the country, with only four or five based in Albuquerque, where they work remotely. Koons hopes to bring about 80% of his workforce to the new Denver office.
Koons thinks it will be easier to persuade employees to move to Denver. There’s also “a talent density far superior in Denver that I can’t get here,” Koons said, enabling more local hires.
Meanwhile, Koons said economic development incentives have been heavily concentrated around the quantum computing industry in New Mexico, reducing the pool of funding and support available to health and biotechnology firms. He told the Denver Business Journal that Karoo did not seek relocation incentives from officials in Colorado.
Karoo has raised nearly $35 million in investments, Koons said, including $16.2 million secured in a Series A funding round led by two venture capital firms this summer.
The startup serves nearly 20,000 patients and works with 700 cardiology providers across 12 states, Koons said. It has partnerships with both national and regional insurers.
Managing the firm and its planned relocation have kept Koons busy. He estimates that he’s taken 75 flights so far this year, including 40 to Denver.
Tilly Robinson covers the economy and healthcare for the Journal. Follow her on X @tillyrobin or reach her via email at [email protected].
