Nordic CEO Mark Bakken announces new venture

MADISON, Wis.—Mark Bakken, Co-founder and CEO of Nordic Consulting (Nordic), has announced he’s stepping aside as Nordic’s CEO to start a seed and early stage venture fund dedicated to growing healthcare IT start-up companies based in Madison, Wis. Bakken has transitioned leadership responsibility to the company’s highly capable senior management team, which will enable Nordic to maintain its enviable culture and considerable momentum. However, Bakken will continue to be active in the business, remaining on the Board of Directors as Chairman Emeritus and a significant shareholder.

“I’m an entrepreneur at heart,” Bakken said, “and after five years of leading Nordic and building a very successful company, I’m turning it over to our exceptional team so I can help other healthcare IT start-ups in the Madison area.”

Drew Madden, President of Nordic remarked, “Nordic has enjoyed remarkable growth and top KLAS ratings. We are grateful to Mark for his leadership and look forward to our ongoing relationship.”

Both Nordic Investors and Bakken have committed to make investments to the seed and early stage venture fund. Bakken will work with other local and national accredited investors to attract additional limited partners to the fund.

“Every week, I'm approached by bright, young entrepreneurs here who have great business ideas to help the healthcare industry deliver better care more cost-effectively,” Bakken said. “There are lots of gaps in the current healthcare IT world.”

Madison offers a wide array of important factors to support a fund under Bakken’s leadership. It is ranked fifth by Forbes for IT job growth in 2014, is home to one of the most prolific research universities in the world and features leading healthcare IT and biotech organizations and a growing start-up eco-system.

“Madison is quickly gaining national recognition as a world class healthcare hub,” Bakken said.

In addition to launching the venture fund, Bakken will join the Advisory Board of Health Enterprise Partners, L.P. (HEP), a New York-based growth equity firm focused on healthcare services and information technology companies. HEP is one of four investment firms that has participated in financing Nordic.

“Mark is a visionary,” said Dave Tamburri, a General Partner of HEP and Director of Nordic. “We’re excited to leverage his ability to identify and work with the management teams of the next generation of firms changing the healthcare landscape.”

About Nordic

Nordic, based in Madison, Wis., provides Epic consulting services to healthcare organizations across the country. Today, Nordic works with over 110 clients in 40 states and has 475 employees, including 400 consultants. Nordic’s consultants have an average of 10 years healthcare IT experience and five Epic certifications. Nordic is the only firm to be ranked No. 1 by KLAS in Epic Implementation Support and Staffing since the report’s inception in 2012. The largest Epic-only consulting practice in the world, Nordic focuses exclusively on Epic software implementations, optimization, remote support, and affiliate extension projects. In September, Nordic was recognized as the 46th fastest-growing privately held company in the U.S. on the annual Inc. 500 list.