Concordare Trials has closed a new funding round to accelerate the development and adoption of its technology for digitizing clinical trial protocols. The round was led by Surface Ventures, with participation from Techstars, Innovation Works, Gaingels, and individual investors, although the company did not disclose the amount raised. The financing will support product development, team expansion, and growth of Concordare’s network of clinical research site partners.
Tackling Clinical Trial Inefficiencies
Founded by CEO Zach Sawaged, Concordare Trials is developing software designed to address inefficiencies created by traditional clinical trial protocols, which are typically distributed as lengthy PDF documents. Clinical research organizations often need to manually recreate information from these documents across multiple operational systems, contributing to additional work, potential errors, and delays in launching studies. Concordare estimates that manual configuration associated with non-standardized protocols can generate approximately $25 million in costs per study.
Sawaged developed the company after spending roughly a decade working across clinical research sites, pharmaceutical sponsors, and technology providers. His professional experience includes roles involving organizations such as NYU Langone, Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Takeda, and Veeva, where he observed how protocol information was repeatedly transferred into separate systems. Concordare was created to establish a structured digital representation of the protocol that can be reused throughout clinical trial operations.
Converting Protocols Into Structured Data
The company’s Concordare Suite converts protocol PDFs into a proprietary format called the Clinical Trial Protocol Model, or CTPM. The system is designed to create a structured and interoperable source of trial information that can connect with different downstream systems rather than requiring teams to manually configure each platform independently. Concordare uses artificial intelligence specifically to extract information from protocol documents before the resulting CTPM undergoes human review.
According to the company, the human-review process is intended to maintain fidelity to the original protocol before the structured data is used to produce system configurations and study documentation. Once a protocol has been processed, clinical sites can use the structured information to generate downstream outputs across different studies and operational tools. Concordare says this workflow can shorten the study activation process by approximately six to eight weeks.
Expanding Across Clinical Research Sites
Concordare is working with academic medical centers and other research institutions as it expands adoption of its platform. Rutgers University is among the company’s established partners and is using the technology across multiple teams, while Concordare said it is also in the process of contracting with additional institutions across the United States. The broader goal is to create an infrastructure layer that can be used consistently across sponsors, studies, and clinical research sites.
Surface Ventures sees the platform as an opportunity to improve digital infrastructure across the clinical trial value chain. Gyan Kapur, Co-Managing Partner at the firm, said digitizing protocols earlier in the research process could create value for both sponsors and sites by reducing errors and accelerating trial execution. Faster and more standardized study setup could ultimately help shorten the time required for experimental treatments to progress through clinical development.
Funding Supports Product and Network Growth
The newly secured capital will allow Concordare to continue improving its software while expanding the team responsible for product development and customer deployment. The company also plans to grow its site partnership network as it seeks wider adoption among institutions conducting clinical research. Its strategy centers on making the protocol a reusable digital source of truth rather than a static document that must be repeatedly interpreted and entered into different systems.
Concordare Trials is positioning its platform as infrastructure for modernizing one of the most manual components of clinical research operations. By transforming protocol PDFs into standardized, human-reviewed digital models, the company aims to reduce repetitive configuration work and accelerate the launch of clinical studies. With backing from Surface Ventures, Techstars, Innovation Works, Gaingels, and other investors, Concordare will now focus on expanding its technology and institutional partnerships.