The Rounds, the Halifax startup that operates a social network for medical professionals, has added $565,000 in equity investment to its seed round, which it will use to accelerate its rapid growth.

Having launched its closed network for physicians in February, the company now says it is targeting having 26,000 doctors enrolled on the site by the end of 2014.

“This funding isn’t meant to extend our runway; it will be used to grow faster, right now,” said Co-Founder and CEO Blair Ryan in a statement. “The decision to raise a seed extension came down to our desire to capitalize on the early traction and momentum we were experiencing. Canadian healthcare needs us to grow faster.”

The Rounds – formerly known as Boondoc – said in April that its seed round had amounted to $1 million, including a $250,000 investment from Innovacorp and contributions from several angels. At that time, the network was being used by about 1,500 physicians from across the country.

The new funding comes from five investors based in Calgary and raised to total seed round to about $1.6 million. The company said it is preparing to raise a Series A funding round in the coming months.

“Contributing to The Rounds wasn’t something I could pass on,” said one of the new investors, Gordon Stewart, in a statement. “After hearing the company’s story and believing in their mission to improve healthcare globally, I was eager to come on board.”

Founded in 2012 by Ryan, Will Harris and Michael Clory, The Rounds aims 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. 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. This means there are no pop-up ads, but the network does have sponsored pages in which doctors can seek out more information.

The Rounds now has 13 employees and intends to use the new money to double its staff, focusing on its engineering team.  And in the short term, it aims to have about 35 percent of the 75,000 doctors in Canada signed up to the site by year end.

“We have a number of partnerships coming together shortly that will help us realize this goal,” said Marketing and Communications Manager Becky Richter. “Right now, we have the Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians and The Society of Rural Physicians of Canada using The Rounds to engage with their member bases.”

She added the company is bringing together other partnerships to help meet the goal.

The co-founders used to say they wanted to establish a Canadian network then look for expansion in other countries. The company is now more definitive that it wants to expand beyond Canada in the new year – not just by targeting other countries but also with disciplines other than physicians.

It is now running a medical student beta test, which will be launching from private beta early in 2015, and it is looking to other healthcare providers in Canada such as naturopaths.

Entrevestor receives financial support from government agencies that support start-up companies in Atlantic Canada. The sponsoring agencies play no role in determining which companies are featured in this column nor do they have the right to review columns before they are published.