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build

Partner: Innovation Associates
When: 2019-2022

Pharmacists under pressure

like never before. We see

untapped technology as the

answer. Together, changing

the pharmacy industry –

for the better.

Innovation Associates had been a leading-edge provider of pharmacy automation technology for more than 25 years. Internally, the Innovation Associates team was ready to further position themselves as a market leader and realized the need for a strategic investment to capitalize on the explosive growth opportunities ahead of them.  Wasson Enterprise, through our deep industry knowledge, saw the growth potential and understood the pressure that pharmacists were under and knew innovation could be the solution. We assembled a consortium of investors including Wasson Enterprise, Allomer Capital Group and Capstone Consultants LLC, to acquire a majority stake in Innovation Associates in December of 2019 and got to work. Today, iA is a leader in software-enabled pharmacy fulfillment technologies, offering robust solutions for centralized fulfillment, retail, hospital or mail order pharmacy settings. With more than 300,000 pharmacists working today, many of them spend time on administrative tasks rather than delivery of healthcare. It’s iA’s mission to change that. Envision a world where every patient has easy access to their pharmacist every time they visit their pharmacy, where pharmacists are free to fulfill their roles as community healthcare providers, that’s unleashing the full potential of pharmacy!

TAKE ME TO THE WORK
Partner: Innovation Associates
When: 2019-2022

Pharmacists

under pressure like

never before. We

see untapped

technology as the

answer. Together,

changing the

pharmacy industry

for the better.

Innovation Associates had been a leading-edge provider of pharmacy automation technology for more than 25 years. Internally, the Innovation Associates team was ready to further position themselves as a market leader and realized the need for a strategic investment to capitalize on the explosive growth opportunities ahead of them.  Wasson Enterprise, through our deep industry knowledge, saw the growth potential and understood the pressure that pharmacists were under and knew innovation could be the solution. We assembled a consortium of investors including Wasson Enterprise, Allomer Capital Group and Capstone Consultants LLC, to acquire a majority stake in Innovation Associates in December of 2019 and got to work. Today, iA is a leader in software-enabled pharmacy fulfillment technologies, offering robust solutions for centralized fulfillment, retail, hospital or mail order pharmacy settings. With more than 300,000 pharmacists working today, many of them spend time on administrative tasks rather than delivery of healthcare. It’s iA’s mission to change that. Envision a world where every patient has easy access to their pharmacist every time they visit their pharmacy, where pharmacists are free to fulfill their roles as community healthcare providers, that’s unleashing the full potential of pharmacy!

TAKE ME TO THE WORK

seize opportunities

A family-run business.
Industry tailwinds.
An opportunity to shine.

In December 2019, we recognized a strong opportunity to reposition this family-run pharmacy automation business into an industry leader, led by the company’s internally built software while also riding industry tailwinds. Central fill can help iA’s customers to achieve 3 primary goals:

Faster inventory turns improved working capital position
Reduced cost-to-fill alleviates reimbursement pressure
Increase pharmacist time for patient facing revenue generating activities
A family-run business.
Industry tailwinds.
An opportunity to shine.

In December 2019, we recognized a strong opportunity to reposition this family-run pharmacy automation business into an industry leader, led by the company’s internally built software while also riding industry tailwinds. Central fill can help iA’s customers to achieve 3 primary goals:

1. Improved inventory turns
increases cash position
2. Increase pharmacist time
for revenue generating
activities
3. Reduced cost-to-fill
alleviates reimbursement
pressure

do good

There are more than 300,000
pharmacists working today, and
too many spend more time
manually filling prescriptions
or on phone calls with insurers
than they spend with patients.

We partnered with iA to help pharmacies to enable their pharmacists do what they dreamed of doing when they decided to become pharmacists — spend time with patients counseling them on their healthcare needs, medications and more! Through centralized fulfillment, iA also helps pharmacies pull tedious tasks away from pharmacists, relieving the growing stress and pressure on them to perform with great accuracy.

There are more than
300,000 pharmacists
working today, and
too many spend
more time manually
filling prescriptions
or on phone calls
with insurers than
they spend with
patients.

We partnered with iA to help pharmacies to enable their pharmacists do what they dreamed of doing when they decided to become pharmacists — spend time with patients counseling them on their healthcare needs, medications and more! Through centralized fulfillment, iA also helps pharmacies pull tedious tasks away from pharmacists, relieving the growing stress and pressure on them to perform with great accuracy.

build

How we recognized an

under-penetrated market

opportunity and built a

platform attractive

for a strategic partner.

Marketing & Branding

Working with Innovation Associates leaders, we built a totally new brand and identity across the board — through our WE Discovery Process, we crafted a new name, logo, brand identity and language. iA’s new brand grabbed fresh eyes and attention through WE-led strategies including PR, social media, trade show development, sales collateral, messaging, communications and the creation of iA’s marketing plan. Our strategic rebranding efforts involved updating and creating assets and communication, resulting in brand awareness, increased media coverage, intentional social media presence and improved website performance.

Human Resources

We supported iA’s 3 year plan and worked to build systems and company values in order to jumpstart high-volume hiring which included four C-suite members: CFO, COO, Legal, and HR. We created standardized talent acquisition processes which were implemented across iA with the partnership of a new Chief People Officer, and provided advice to the board of managers on various key initiatives such as establishing an executive bonus program, benchmarks for employee stock option grants and implementing new base pay ranges company-wide.

Strategy & Operations

In addition, we supported iA with operational expertise that included process improvement, reorganization, budgeting, preparing for scale, and Salesforce integration. Our finance team helped develop iA’s 3 Year Plan, and supported diligence meetings from inception through majority acquisition, and we had representation on the board.

Transformational Outcomes

We are proud of the impressive impact our work has. We effectively helped reposition iA as a leader in pharmacy automation, which led to incredible accomplishments, including helping enable iA to open new sales channels to marquee forward thinking customers, and helping iA reposition themselves.

How we

recognized an

under-penetrated

market opportunity

and built a

platform attractive

to a strategic

partner and

investment.

Marketing & Branding

Working with Innovation Associates leaders, we built a totally new brand and identity across the board — through our WE Discovery Process, we crafted a new name, logo, brand identity and language. iA’s new brand grabbed fresh eyes and attention through WE-led strategies including PR, social media, trade show development, sales collateral, messaging, communications and the creation of iA’s marketing plan. Our strategic rebranding efforts involved updating and creating assets and communication, resulting in brand awareness, increased media coverage, intentional social media presence and improved website performance.

Human Resources

We supported iA’s 3 year plan and worked to build systems and company values in order to jumpstart high-volume hiring which included four C-suite members: CFO, COO, Legal, and HR. We created standardized talent acquisition processes which were implemented across iA with the partnership of a new Chief People Officer, and provided advice to the board of managers on various key initiatives such as establishing an executive bonus program, benchmarks for employee stock option grants and implementing new base pay ranges company-wide.

Strategy & Operations

In addition, we supported iA with operational expertise that included process improvement, reorganization, budgeting, preparing for scale, and Salesforce integration. Our finance team helped develop iA’s 3 Year Plan, and supported diligence meetings from inception through majority acquisition, and we had representation on the board.

Transformational Outcomes

We are proud of the impressive impact our work has. We effectively helped reposition iA as a leader in pharmacy automation, which led to incredible accomplishments, including helping enable iA to open new sales channels to marquee forward thinking customers, and helping iA reposition themselves.