The Series A investment is led by Easton Capital and New Science Ventures to accelerate development of TigerText Pro for Business, its HIPAA-compliant, easy-to-use messaging platform. Doctors, nurses and other clinicians in hospital and clinic settings are using standard text messaging because they need to communicate rapidly, but those systems don’t safeguard the privacy of protected health information. TigerText offers the same ease of use and rapid response by providing a private network controlled by the enterprise in compliance with patient privacy regulations.

Already, more than 20 healthcare organizations are enabling their clinicians to communicate both more effectively and more securely with TigerText’s private mobile messaging network, which works on all the major mobile platforms (Apple, Android, and BlackBerry) and on computers.

As part of their investment, John Friedman, Managing Partner of Easton Capital, and Somu Subramaniam, Managing Partner of NSV, have joined the board of TigerText, Inc.

“The addition of Easton Capital and New Science Ventures as partners significantly accelerates our development,” said Jeffrey Evans, TigerText Co-Founder. “John and Somu bring their incredibly rich experience, based on decades of advising life-sciences and technology companies, to our already strong board. Their leadership will help the Company reach its vast potential to transform the way physicians and nurses communicate, bringing in-hospital communications from the pagers of the 1980s to the smartphones of the 21^st century.”

“This additional funding enables us to continue building out the unique features of the TigerText platform, the first service that meets the critical need of secure mobile messaging for healthcare enterprises,” said Brad Brooks, TigerText Co-Founder. “Our strong sales pipeline attests to the growing recognition that hospitals and physician practices need to provide doctors, nurses and other clinicians with a HIPAA-compliant alternative to unsecured texting.”

Healthcare organizations recognize the dangers, but largely haven’t acted on them. In a recent study, the Ponemon Institute found that 81% of surveyed healthcare organizations used mobile devices to collect, store or transmit protected health information – yet half of these organizations admitted that they do nothing to protect the data on these devices and fewer than a quarter use encryption.

“TigerText has staked a unique position in the healthcare space,” Easton’s Friedman said. “Not only is there a critical need for its product, but the Company also has already proven the robustness of its business model. With virtually no marketing effort, its platform has been adopted by more than 20 healthcare enterprises, with many more in its pipeline. I believe that its fantastic product and strong management team position the company to truly revolutionize communication in healthcare.”

TigerText previously closed $2.2 million of seed financing in 2010.

About TigerText:

TigerText allows hospitals and physician groups to create their own private, HIPAA-compliant mobile messaging network for physicians, nurses and administrators. This controlled platform replaces the unsecured text messaging that leaves protected health information at risk. TigerText gives health care providers ultimate control over the messages they and their employees send, with features such as: Self-Deleting Messages (both on sender and receiver handsets), Message Recall and Forward Lock. TigerText works on all smartphone platforms and also has a desktop web interface. For more information, visit http://www.tigertext.com/.

Contact info:

TigerText
David Jarrard
Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc.
(615) 254-0575

November 17, 2011 (Los Angeles) – The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), which provides accreditation for more than 19,000 hospitals, this week said it was “not acceptable” for medical professionals to communicate patient information via text message. TigerText, the global leader in private and controlled mobile messaging applications and platform solutions, hailed the decision by JCAHO as a firm step toward stopping doctors, nurses, and hospitals from the dangerous HIPAA violations often associated with unsecure messaging.

“JCAHO has sent a clear message to the healthcare industry regarding patient privacy,” said TigerText President and Co-Founder Brad Brooks. “However, the industry needs to face the fact that Doctors not only want to, but need to utilize the speed and efficiency of mobile messaging. Medical professionals must be given access to secure, controllable methods of communication. TigerText’s mission is to provide that communication platform.”

Hospitals and health care professionals from Kentucky to Michigan to New York to California have learned how to communicate quickly while remaining HIPAA-compliant by using TigerText. The company has seen an explosion of its health care business in recent months with thousands of physicians, nurses, and other healthcare professionals using TigerText.

“We hope the JCAHO guidelines about texting don’t scare hospital administrators into just abandoning messaging as a way of communicating,” said Brooks. “Healthcare communication has really not evolved for the past 30 years since the introduction of the pager. We urge hospitals everywhere to look at the JCAHO statement as an opportunity to bring their internal communication into the 21^st century. Improving response time in a secure manner will improve patient care and lower costs.”

About TigerText:

TigerText allows Hospitals and Physician groups to create their own HIPAA-compliant mobile messaging network for physicians, nurses and administrators.  TigerText gives Health Care Providers ultimate communication control over the messages they and their employees send, with features such as; Self Deleting Messages (both on sender and receiver handsets), Message Recall, and Forward Lock. TigerText works on all smartphone platforms and also has a desktop web interface.  http://www.TigerText.com

Contact Info:
Tiger Text
Jason Evans
(404) 309-0303
PR@tigertext.com

October 12, 2011 (Los Angeles) -  Physicians and hospital staffs are using smart phones in ever increasing numbers.  In a survey of customers, TigerText, the leader in HIPAA compliant mobile messaging, has found that 73% of physicians are sending work related text messages.   Many don’t understand the inherent risk to patient privacy and the potential for fines and audits to both individuals and healthcare organizations.   TigerText has assembled a group of experts for their October 17^th webinar “HIPAA Texting:  Safe, Fast and Compliant”.

The webinar will feature an overview of the growth in mobile texting among doctors and hospitals and how some are using it to significantly improve patient care. There will be a discussion of what HIPPA regulations say about mobile messaging as well as the penalties and exposure a hospital faces if it fails to properly comply. The session will conclude with an examination of potential solutions including a case study from Cone Health which has found success using of the cutting edge communications platform, TigerText.

“Of course physicians and hospital staff are texting,” says TigerText President and Co-Founder Brad Brooks, “the problem is that it’s illegal.  Yet – It’s crucial to their day that they be able to consult and communicate about their patients while on the go.” “With the audits coming we feel it’s important for healthcare providers to understand the various ways in which both staff and patients are potentially at risk.”

The event will feature Adam Greene, the former Sr. Health Information Technology and Privacy Advisor for the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. Mr. Greene is one of the most qualified individuals in the country on this topic as he helped HHS formulate policy for applying HIPAA to digital communications. He is currently a Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.   Also taking part in the webinar will be Dr. James French, Executive Director, Cone Health Hospitalist Program and Mr. Brooks of TigerText.

In order to register for this complimentary webinar, please visit:
http://bit.ly/TTWebinar 

September 21, 2011 (New York) – The Institute for Health Technology Transformation has announced it will be conducting a webinar to educate health care professionals and managers about the dangers of non-HIPAA compliant text messaging and the ways that both hospitals and physicians can protect themselves without sacrificing convenience and speed –or patient PHI.  The webinar is titled “HIPAA Texting – What Are You and Your Hospital Doing?” and will take place September 27, 2011 at 1:00pm EST.

The webinar will feature an overview of the growth in mobile texting among doctors and hospitals and how some are using it to significantly improve patient care. There will be a discussion of what HIPPA regulations say about mobile messaging as well as the penalties and exposure a hospital faces if it fails to properly comply. The session will conclude with an examination of potential solutions including a case study from Cone Health which has found success using of the cutting edge communications platform, TigerText.

“Healthcare professionals need the freedom to use fast, effective, modern communications tools while not endangering patient privacy,” says TigerText President and Co-Founder Brad Brooks. “We are thrilled to be included in this webinar because the more hospitals that know about these new technologies, the better patient care will be across the country.”

The event will feature Adam Greene, the former Sr. Health Information Technology and Privacy Advisor for the US Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights. Mr. Greene is one of the most qualified individuals in the country on this topic as he helped HHS formulate policy for applying HIPAA to digital communications. He is currently a Partner at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.   Also taking part in the webinar will be Dr. James French, Executive Director, Cone Health Hospitalist Program; Paresh Amin, CISSP, a Security Compliance consultant and former Director of Information Security with Experian; and Mr. Brooks of TigerText.

In order to register for this complimentary webinar, please visit: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/466851882 or http://bit.ly/HIPPA_text

About TigerText:

TigerText allows Hospitals and Physician groups to create their own HIPAA-compliant mobile messaging network for physicians, nurses and administrators.  TigerText gives Health Care Providers ultimate communication control over the messages they and their employees send, with features such as; Self Deleting Messages (both on sender and receiver handsets), Message Recall, and Forward Lock.   TigerText works on all smartphone platforms and also has a desktop interface.  http://TigerText.com

About the Institute for Health Technology Transformation:

The Institute for Health Technology Transformation is the leading organization committed to bringing together private and public sector leaders fostering the growth and effective use of technology across the healthcare industry. Through collaborative efforts the Institute provides programs that drive innovation, educate, and provide a critical understanding of how technology applications, solutions and devices can improve the quality, safety and efficiency of healthcare. http://www.ihealthtran.com

For more information:
Please contact
Jason Evans
404-255-2532
email PR@TigerText.com

Matt Raynor
Institute for Health Technology Transformation
561-748-6281

September 1, 2011 (Los Angeles, CA) – TigerText, the global leader in private and controlled mobile messaging applications and platform solutions, today announced a partnership with Manage Mobility, the award winning, national telecommunications management and logistics firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia.   The partnership will allow Manage Mobility to offer its diverse group of Healthcare , Financial and Retail services  customers  TigerText’s unique solution to the growing  privacy risk inherent in mobile messaging communication.

“Mobile messaging is pervasive in every aspect of business. With TigerText, Manage Mobility is now able to offer our customers an alternative to the lack of privacy and security found in today’s SMS.” said Mike McGuire, President and CEO of Manage Mobility.  “For example, in the next year, many of our customers will upgrade their networking and communication systems to ensure HIPAA compliancy. This partnership between Manage Mobility and TigerText offers them a one stop solution to protect their customers and prevent HIPAA violations in their mobile communications.”

“It makes perfect sense for us to partner with Manage Mobility,” added TigerText President and Co-Founder Brad Brooks. “TigerText and Manage Mobility offer the ideal combination to complement any large mobile communications network. Companies in healthcare, finance, and elsewhere are facing the reality of employees who are compelled to rely on the speed and flexibility of mobile messaging for their everyday work. But keeping those professional communications protected is essential. Together with Manage Mobility, we can reach a wide audience and provide a much needed solution to that problem.” TigerText allows businesses to launch a private mobile messaging network and companywide communications system on top of the mobile network provisioning and product management provided by Manage Mobility.  Launch integration is minimal with a flexible set of communication controls that can be custom set and administered by each individual business’s needs.  Time to launch can literally be weeks as opposed to months.

About Manage Mobility
Manage Mobility is a national management and logistics firm providing fully-customized telecom solutions. End users range from Fortune 500 companies and government agencies, to small business and public sector accounts. Manage Mobility combines hardware, software, M2M solutions, telecom expense management tools and system integration to offer customers one point of contact for all their telecom needs. Visit them online at www.managemobility.com.

About TigerText
TigerText is the global leader in next generation private and controlled mobile messaging networks.  TigerText gives any businesses ultimate communication control over the messages they and their employees send, with features such as; Self Deleting Messages (both on sender and receiver handsets), Message Recall, and Forward Lock.  TigerText allows Hospitals and Physician groups to create their own HIPAA-compliant mobile messaging network for physicians, nurses and administrators.  TigerText is HIPAA- and SOX-compliant, and works on cellular and WiFi networks.  Customers include large hospitals, financial services companies and large business networks.  Please visit us at www.tigertext.com/

TigerText is available worldwide to anyone with an Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Windows 7 mobile device.

Contact Info:
Tiger Text
Jason Evans
(404) 309 0303
PR@tigertext.com

Manage Mobility
Mike Orzechowski
678-736-5301
marketing@managemobility.com

“Raj is one of the creators of messaging as we know it today and we are thrilled to have him on the TigerText team,” said CEO Jeffrey Evans. “Raj’s experience working directly with our development team has already been beneficial. If it is related to messaging – Raj has seen it, done it, and developed it.”

Vemulapalli spent 11 years at Yahoo! making Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mobile Messaging the #1 messaging tools in the United States and #2 in the world with a reach of 280+ million active users and $150+ million in annual revenues.

“As I watched the messaging landscape continue to evolve, I looked around for the teams that were taking messaging to the next level. TigerText leapt out in front of the field.” said Vemulapalli. “They understand that consumers and businesses want maximum functionality and control over their messaging.”

About TigerText

TigerText and TigerText Pro for Business are the global leaders in the next generation private and controlled mobile messaging networks. Members have ultimate control over the messages they send with features such as; Self Deleting Messages (both on sender and receiver handsets), Message Recall and Forward Lock. With TigerText users now have control and privacy in their messaging activity. TigerText Pro gives businesses the ability to deploy rapid fire private communication in a Controlled Network Environment. TigerText Pro’s customers include large hospitals, financial institutions and other business networks.

TigerText is available worldwide to anyone with an Android, Blackberry, iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Windows 7 mobile device.

Face it, we’re human and we’re prone to communication mistakes. Call it “text regret.” That is why with TigerText, you can recall your text. Let’s ponder this concept for a second.

Recalling texts. Deleting a sent text. Taking back a text. Unsending your text. It’s all the same thing and we’ve all wished we could do it.

Let’s say you send a text. You realize it’s not what you meant to say. A rush of terror builds up inside you as you stand there terrified about what your recipient is going to think after reading it. So you tap “Recall” and, voila, you are recalling the text. You have deleted it from their phone, your phone and everywhere in between. It’s a face-saving, do-over that might one day save your relationship, your job and your hide.

So if you’ve ever wondered if you can recall a text? The answer is a resounding “yes.”

What’s a text you wish you had recalled? Post it on Twitter with #wishIhadTigerTextcuz

The number one request we got from our users was the ability to better control the notifications. You talked (and emailed, and TigerTexted, and Facebooked and Tweeted) and we listened. We love feedback and we always prioritize these requests. With this release, you can turn alerts (those pop up messages you get when you’re out of the app), badges (the numbers that pop up when you get a message and you’re in the app) and sounds (the TigerText “whoooop!”) on and off.

Now you can turn Sounds, Alerts and Badges on and off

Also in this update, we’re addressing a few lingering bugs, making wonderful upgrades to the servers and even make it easier for you to add your Facebook friends to TigerText.

Just to remind you of all the cool “control” features you have with TigerText. Here’s a quick reference:

Long Press for more cool things to do.

Your message has been received.

Your message has been read.

Recall that message right now.

Make a group quickly and easily

TigerText, a company that adds a bevy of privacy settings and controls to SMS, is today launching a new app for iOS that aims to preserve the social nature of group messaging while giving the sender complete control over their messages both in group and one-to-one conversations. A prized feature of TigerText’s service has been the fact that it allows a sender to recall a message they’ve sent at any time. Bad for TextsFromLastNight. Now, with its new iOS app, users can create and manage group messaging easily, recall messages, and control the lifespan of a message.

Other features of its new app include allowing the user to determine who receives the message, augmented privacy by using a TigerText specific user name (not based on a phone number), as well as confirmation of message delivery. Read more…

Ever send a text message and instantly regret it? A new app for the iPhone lets users not only immediately pull back those text messages, but set a lifespan — even down to seconds — for how long a message is viewable. It’s called TigerText — and yes, even though the company has said it’s not named for Tiger Woods, the poster child for regrettable text messages, it certainly hasn’t been hurt by the name.

TigerText came out about a year ago for various smartphones, including the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and Windows 7 phones. But the new app for iOS (Apple) lets you recall messages with typos, mistakes “or just because” within seconds of sending, says the maker. And “expired messages” can be “completely erased from all phones and servers.” Whoo-hoo!

“Our digital footprint grows with every post we make and every message we send. That message lives on forever on other people’s phones and on the many servers it passes through on its journey,” said Jeffrey Evans, TigerText’s CEO and co-founder, on the company’s blog.

The company, he said, sees its “mission” as being “to give that control back. We turned the notion of control on its head, letting the sender decide who can see a message, prevent it from being forwarded, and determine how long it lives.  We also hope the new message recall function will prevent some of those ‘Oops, I just sent that I-hate-my-job text to my boss by mistake’ moments.”

Read more…