Saint John-based healthcare procurement company MedReddie is celebrating getting into the Roux Institute of Healthcare Founder Residency based in Maine.

The program, designed in partnership with Northern Light Health, MaineHealth, and Maine Venture Fund, is said to be the first of its kind in northern New England and aims to accelerate the growth of digital health, healthcare technology, biotech, and clinical innovation startups, the company said in a press release.

“This opportunity marks a pivotal moment for us to expand our presence within the U.S. healthcare system, build strategic partnerships, and foster lasting relationships,” said MedReddie CEO Kara LeBlanc in the statement.

MedReddie’s software-as-a-service product uses proprietary language models developed specifically for medical work as an “intelligent co-pilot, enabling rapid identification of market solutions and facilitating faster procurement decisions.” The company says its technology is meant to reduce the burden on the large, expensive procurement teams relied on by many organizations, automating research that has traditionally been performed by human employees.

Medical supply businesses, meanwhile, are incentivized to make their product information available to the platform because the MedReddie platform offers another way to reach buyers.

The Roux Institute Future of Healthcare Founder Residency runs for a year and is designed to accelerate digital health, healthcare technology, biotech, and clinical innovation founders. The class includes 10 early-stage startups from around the world. Founders will live, work and maintain a presence in Portland, Maine, for 12 months as part of the residency.

Last July, MedReddie raised a $782,000 pre-seed round and announced its expansion in Canada and the U.S. hospital market.

It followed the company’s acceptance into Google’s startup accelerator for female founders.

At the time, the company described the round as oversubscribed and said it included BDC’s Thrive Lab, the Firehood industry group and angel network for women in tech, New York-based Forum Ventures and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, along with government grants.

The company was created by LeBlanc, who spent many years working in medical procurement and held multiple senior roles at Service New Brunswick.

“I founded MedReddie because I knew there was a better way to help healthcare organizations acquire the technologies and services they need while also supporting medtech suppliers with new marketing channels,” she told Entrevestor last year. “We’ve built a platform that simplifies the process, saves considerable time and resources, and ultimately allows healthcare professionals to focus on what matters most: patient care.”