The Rounds, a social network for medical professionals, has raised a $1 million seed round, including a $250,000 investment from the Nova Scotia investment agency, Innvoacorp.

The Halifax-based company, which works out of the Volta startup incubator, said in a press release it closed the funding round on Tuesday, and that the money would likely last it for a year. Other than the Innovacorp investment, the rest of the money came from angels from the region, across Canada and in San Francisco. Five of the angels are doctors.

In February, The Rounds -- formerly known as Boondoc -- launched its online product, which connects doctors from across the country, allowing them to converse, create local “groups” and discuss medical issues. Only doctors can to subscribe to the basic service, which is double encrypted so there are no concerns about patient confidentiality.

Almost 1500 physicians from across Canada are now using The Rounds. They come from every province and are interacting with each other more than 20,000 times each month, said the company in a press release.

“As demonstrated by their recent growth and physician adoption, The Rounds clearly understands the market and is delivering a product that benefits all Canadians,” Dawn Umlah, Investment Manager of Innovacorp, said in the statement. “This investment will help The Rounds connect with more Canadian physicians and accelerate their growth as it relates to product innovation and user acquisition.”

The idea behind The Rounds is to provide doctors with a private, secure network in which they can consult with one another and find advice on how to solve vexing medical problems. CEO Blair Ryan has found that The Round is especially valuable to rural doctors, who don’t have the benefit of consulting with nearby colleagues.  

The Rounds allows pharmaceutical companies, medical associations or other groups to pay to engage on the site in a non-intrusive manner. The first such paying customer is now using the site. This means there are no pop-up ads, but the network does have sponsored pages in which doctors can seek out more information.

In an interview with Entrevestor last month, Founder and Ryan said projected the company will earn $500,000 in revenue by the end of the year.

The Rounds has a staff of 10, including CTO Daniel Enman and COO Bill Power. Ryan also runs the Empathy Factory, a not-for-profit organization that teaches children empathy and encourages them to help with social change.