BrightSquid
BrightSquid is a Calgary-based healthcare technology company that operates a closed, privacy-compliant secure messaging network (Secure-Mail) for North American clinics, clinicians, and patients, replacing fax and unsecured email with encrypted communication and integrated privacy services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2009
- HeadquartersCalgary, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What BrightSquid does
BrightSquid (legal entity: Brightsquid Secure Communications Corp.) is a Calgary-based medical technology company founded in 2009 by a pediatric radiologist, a lawyer, and a lab executive, with a secondary US office in Spokane, Washington. The company operates a closed, privacy-by-design healthcare communication network anchored by its flagship Secure-Mail product — a web-based encrypted messaging and large-file-transfer platform that replaces fax, unsecured email, and phone-based workflows for clinics, clinicians, and patients. Supporting modules include Appointment Reminders, Secure Forms, Screening Programs, Team-Based Care, and Secure Enterprise Email, all built around automatic privacy breach prevention (spam, phishing, ransomware, misdirected sends, message recall) and multi-jurisdictional compliance with HIPAA, PIPEDA, PHIPA, HIA, and GDPR.
BrightSquid monetizes primarily through subscription-based Secure-Mail plans (freemium 4-week trial converting to paid tiers), supplemented by Privacy Impact Assessments, Privacy Support Plans (Essential, Complete Dental, Complete Clinic), Fractional Privacy Officer Services (Tier 1 acting as Privacy Officer; Tier 2 assistant), Custom and HIPAA Breach Prevention Training, and an affiliate referral for discounted Lloyd's of London cyber liability insurance. Distribution combines product-led self-serve sign-up via brightsquid.com, community-led growth through an 80,000+ professional directory and monthly User Group webinars, and a sales-led motion for enterprise privacy consulting and US healthcare accounts.
The company reports 50,000+ practices and 80,000+ professionals on its network, has served more than 60,000 clinics across North America, completed a SOC 2 Type I audit via A-LIGN in February 2024, and lists Cleveland Clinic, Rexall, CareRx, and other named healthcare organizations as customers. It is privately held with no disclosed institutional funding beyond a 2017 round, no revenue disclosure, and a leadership team consisting of Co-Founder/CEO Rohit Joshi, CIO Chris Carlson, and CFO Jason Myers.
BrightSquid firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- BrightSquid
- Legal name
- Brightsquid Secure Communications Corp.
- Website
- https://brightsquid.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2009
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- BrightSquid is a Calgary-based healthcare technology company that operates a closed, privacy-compliant secure messaging network (Secure-Mail) for North American clinics, clinicians, and patients, replacing fax and unsecured email with encrypted communication and integrated privacy services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
BrightSquid industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Healthcare Secure Communications
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Security Systems Services (56162), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Social Assistance (624)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Secure Communication & Collaboration (Secure Messaging/Email/Teleconferencing) (HLACAJAM)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Consent, Privacy Management & Patient Identity (CIAM/Consent) (HLACAJAL), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) & Sensitive Data Discovery (PHI/PII) (HLACAJAC), Secure/Encrypted Messaging (BPAMACAG), Email Data Loss Prevention & Encryption (HDADAKAD)
Keywords
Where BrightSquid is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Calgary
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
BrightSquid business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Secure-Mail Subscription: Core subscription-based revenue from Secure-Mail accounts. Subscriptions include accounts for clinicians and staff, bulk messaging, clinic operations optimization, and privacy breach prevention training seats. Additional clinician registrations add extra training seats. Base subscription includes 5 training seats per clinician. Free accounts available for patients and invited collaborators.
- Privacy Breach Prevention Training: Online HIPAA Privacy Breach Prevention course (1.5 hours, on-demand, certificate of completion). Training access is included with Secure-Mail subscriptions. Subscribed clinics can purchase additional credits at $10 each; free account holders pay $15 per credit. Course is built around actual breach scenarios encountered at healthcare clinics.
- Fractional Privacy Officer Services: Provides dedicated privacy officer support services for healthcare organizations through a team-based model. Two engagement tiers: Tier 1 (acting as official Privacy Officer) and Tier 2 (assistant/support to internal Privacy Officer). Services include privacy maturity assessments, compliance roadmaps, breach management, PIA development, staff training, vendor privacy review, and quarterly dashboards.
- Privacy Impact Assessments (PIA): Privacy Impact Assessments for healthcare organizations. In Alberta, Section 64 of the Health Information Act mandates PIA submission for all 11 named custodian types. Brightsquid's team of certified privacy experts conducts in-depth appraisals of data collection, use, handling, and disclosure practices.
- Cyber Liability Insurance (Discounted): Brightsquid subscribers qualify for discounted Cyber Liability Insurance through Lloyd's of London, creating a cross-sell revenue opportunity and adding value to the core subscription.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Clinic Performance Package (Free Trial) |
| Subscription | Pay-as-you-go | Privacy Breach Prevention Training (Add-on) |
| Subscription | Annual | Essential Privacy Support Subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Complete Dental Privacy Subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Complete Clinic Privacy Subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Fractional Privacy Officer - Tier 1 (Primary Role) |
| Subscription | Annual | Fractional Privacy Officer - Tier 2 (Assistant to Privacy Officer) |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
BrightSquid product offering
Product offeringCore offering
BrightSquid sells Secure-Mail, a closed private healthcare communication network that replaces fax and unsecured email with HIPAA, PIPEDA, PHIPA, and HIA compliant messaging, large file transfers (up to 500 MB), shared clinic inboxes, message recall, secure forms, appointment reminders, screening programs, and automatic breach-prevention technology. The core subscription is augmented by Privacy Impact Assessments, Fractional Privacy Officer services, tiered Privacy Support Plans, HIPAA Breach Prevention Training, and Custom Privacy Training for North American healthcare clinics and organizations.
Product overview
Brightsquid is a unified healthcare communication platform built around its core Secure-Mail product, a closed private messaging and large file transfer service designed specifically for healthcare operations. The platform portfolio includes additional modules for Appointment Reminders, Secure Forms, Screening Programs, Team-Based Care, and Secure Enterprise Email. Complementing the product suite, Brightsquid offers privacy consulting services including Privacy Impact Assessments, HIPAA Breach Prevention Training, Fractional Privacy Officer Services, and Privacy Support Plans at various tiers (Essential, Complete Dental, Complete Clinic). The platform serves 50,000+ clinics across North America, providing encrypted communication, breach prevention, and regulatory compliance support for healthcare privacy frameworks including HIPAA, PIPEDA, and HIA.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Secure-Mail: Core secure messaging and large file transfer service for healthcare teams
- Secure Forms
- Appointment Reminders
- Screening Programs
- Team-Based Care
- Privacy Officer Services
- HIPAA Breach Prevention Training
Products and services
- Secure-Mail Closed private healthcare messaging and large file transfer (up to 500 MB) service with end-to-end encryption, automatic privacy breach prevention, shared clinic inboxes, message recall, multi-organization management, read receipts, audit trails, and bulk panel messaging. Replaces fax and unsecured email for HIPAA, PIPEDA, PHIPA, and HIA compliant communications among healthcare clinics, clinicians, patients, and care teams.
- Appointment Reminders Automated patient appointment reminder messaging service that helps healthcare clinics reduce no-shows and streamline patient communication through the Secure-Mail platform.
- Secure Forms Secure online custom forms that enable healthcare clinics to collect patient data in advance through privacy-compliant digital forms which can be pre-filled and returned securely before appointments.
- Screening Programs Healthcare screening program management solution that enables clinics to send screening questionnaires and bulk communications to patients or specific patient segments at once, supporting screening programs and recalls.
- Team-Based Care Care coordination solution that connects all members of a patient's circle of care — including patients, caregivers, and providers — in one place through the BrightSquid platform.
- Secure Enterprise Email Enterprise-level secure email solution for large healthcare organizations requiring advanced privacy risk management on top of the core Secure-Mail platform.
- HIPAA Breach Prevention Training Online 1.5-hour on-demand HIPAA compliance training course built around actual breach scenarios encountered at healthcare clinics, with a certificate of completion. Included with Secure-Mail subscriptions (5 seats per clinician); additional credits sold at $10 to subscribers and $15 to free-account holders, with 2 credits per enrollment.
- Fractional Privacy Officer Services Team-based outsourced privacy officer support offering two tiers: Tier 1 (BrightSquid acts as official Privacy Officer) and Tier 2 (assistant/support to internal Privacy Officer). Includes privacy maturity assessments, compliance roadmaps, breach management, PIA development, staff training, vendor privacy review, and quarterly privacy dashboards.
- Privacy Support Plans Annual subscription privacy support offering in three tiers: Essential Privacy Support (entry-level), Complete Dental Privacy (comprehensive dental-practice support including PIA, breach management, and staff training), and Complete Clinic Privacy (full-service support for medical and multi-disciplinary clinics).
- Privacy Impact Assessments In-depth appraisal service evaluating how a clinic proposes to collect, use, handle, or disclose patient information, including documented plans to address potential privacy risks. Mandated for 11 named custodian types in Alberta under Section 64 of the Health Information Act and conducted by BrightSquid's certified privacy experts.
- Custom Privacy Training Tailored privacy compliance training programs designed and delivered for specific healthcare organization needs, sold alongside the Secure-Mail subscription.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 50,000 practices use Brightsquid Secure-Mail, with 80,000+ professionals in the directory
- +7 more outcomes
Companies that use BrightSquid
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
BrightSquid technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature11 records
BrightSquid partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and supporting.
- A-LIGNcoreA-LIGN is a leading security and compliance assessor trusted by 2,500+ organizations. They conducted Brightsquid's SOC 2 Type I audit, completing the assessment as of February 23, 2024. The audit result confirms formal third-party validation of Brightsquid's security practices across five Trust Services Criteria: Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy. A-LIGN's COO Steve Simmons publicly congratulated Brightsquid on audit completion. Brightsquid plans annual SOC 2 assessments going forward.
- University of Calgary (UCalgary)majorBrightsquid partnered with the University of Calgary and Mitacs (a Canadian research organization) to launch a COVID-19 Management App. This co-development partnership applied Brightsquid's secure communication technology to support pandemic management and healthcare coordination in Alberta. The partnership demonstrates Brightsquid's capability in applied healthcare technology development.
- Mitacs (Canadian Research Organization)majorMitacs collaborated with Brightsquid and the University of Calgary on a COVID-19 Management App initiative, combining academic research capability with Brightsquid's secure healthcare communication technology to address pandemic management challenges.
- Lloyd's of LondonsupportingBrightsquid subscribers qualify for discounted Cyber Liability Insurance through Lloyd's of London. This partnership provides an added value proposition to the core Secure-Mail subscription, reducing the total cost of risk for healthcare organizations.
- FlowformssupportingFlowforms is referenced in the context of Brightsquid's clinic optimization ecosystem, providing integration support for Brightsquid's clinic optimization tips and product features. Flowforms offers comprehensive integration support, in-depth guidance, data features and workflow synchronization, and ongoing support and updates for Brightsquid-adjacent workflow tools.
Scale indicators13 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
BrightSquid competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- PerfectServe: PerfectServe provides secure clinical communication, provider scheduling, and care-team coordination for hospitals and ambulatory groups. Its secure messaging and care-coordination capabilities directly overlap with Brightsquid's Secure-Mail and Team-Based Care modules.
- TigerConnect: TigerConnect is a leading clinical communication and collaboration platform for hospitals and health systems, offering secure messaging, role-based workflows, and EHR integrations. It is the closest direct competitor to Brightsquid's Secure-Mail product, with a focus on acute care rather than Brightsquid's SMB-clinic orientation.
- Virtru: Virtru offers end-to-end encryption and data protection for email, files, and SaaS applications with HIPAA-grade controls. Its encryption and key-management capabilities overlap with Brightsquid's privacy-by-design messaging platform across regulated industries.
- Doximity: Doximity is a professional network for physicians offering HIPAA-secure messaging, telehealth, and fax-replacement tools. Its Dialer and secure messaging products compete with Brightsquid for clinician mindshare, although Doximity serves a broader US physician audience.
- Paubox: Paubox provides HIPAA-compliant email encryption and email DLP that sits on top of existing email infrastructure. It directly competes with Brightsquid's encrypted messaging and misdirected-message prevention capabilities, with a different delivery model (existing email vs. closed network).
- Forward Advantage: Forward Advantage offers healthcare-focused secure messaging, identity, and interoperability solutions to hospitals and clinics. Its CommunicationDirector product overlaps directly with Brightsquid's Secure-Mail, particularly in clinical messaging workflows.
- LuxSci: LuxSci provides HIPAA-compliant email hosting, secure forms, and email DLP for healthcare organizations. It directly competes with Brightsquid's Secure-Mail and Secure Forms products with a longer-tenured US presence.
Broad incumbents
- Imprivata: Imprivata is an established healthcare IT security vendor specializing in identity, access management, and clinical workflows. Its secure communication and authentication capabilities are broader than Brightsquid's but increasingly overlap in healthcare privacy and access control.
- symplr: symplr provides healthcare operations, compliance, and workforce management software, including privacy and credentialing modules. It competes with Brightsquid's privacy-services layer (Privacy Officer, PIAs, compliance training) as a broader healthcare governance platform.
Emerging players
- Celo Health: Celo Health is a secure messaging platform purpose-built for healthcare teams with end-to-end encryption and clinical workflows. It overlaps with Brightsquid in clinician-to-clinician secure messaging, with a focus on international markets.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
BrightSquid social profiles
Digital presenceBrightSquid compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
BrightSquid financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
BrightSquid leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
BrightSquid funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
BrightSquid M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about BrightSquid
What does BrightSquid do?
BrightSquid sells Secure-Mail, a closed private healthcare communication network that replaces fax and unsecured email with HIPAA, PIPEDA, PHIPA, and HIA compliant messaging, large file transfers (up to 500 MB), shared clinic inboxes, message recall, secure forms, appointment reminders, screening programs, and automatic breach-prevention technology. The core subscription is augmented by Privacy Impact Assessments, Fractional Privacy Officer services, tiered Privacy Support Plans, HIPAA Breach Prevention Training, and Custom Privacy Training for North American healthcare clinics and organizations.
Is BrightSquid a public or private company?
BrightSquid is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was BrightSquid founded?
BrightSquid was founded in 2009. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is BrightSquid based?
BrightSquid is headquartered in Calgary, Canada, in the North America region.
How does BrightSquid make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Secure-Mail Subscription is the primary driver. The others are privacy Breach Prevention Training, fractional Privacy Officer Services, privacy Impact Assessments (PIA) and cyber Liability Insurance (Discounted).
Who are BrightSquid's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are PerfectServe, TigerConnect, Virtru, Doximity, Paubox, Forward Advantage and LuxSci. Broad incumbents are Imprivata and symplr. Celo Health is listed as an emerging player.
Does BrightSquid have an API?
No public API is recorded for BrightSquid.
What industry is BrightSquid in?
BrightSquid's product category is Healthcare Secure Communications. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLACAJAM, Secure Communication & Collaboration (Secure Messaging/Email/Teleconferencing), with a secondary code of HLACAJAL, Consent, Privacy Management & Patient Identity (CIAM/Consent). Its NAICS code is 5182 and its SIC code is 7372.