$1M invested in AssistGuide

Kailua-based Internet company AssistGuide has raised $1 million in early-stage money from local and Mainland investors, money the firm will use to expand its sales force and finance technology development.

Investors include Silicon Valley Bank chairman John Dean, San Francisco Bay-area venture firm Invencor, and Digital Island founder Ron Higgins. The latest investment, made this summer in the form of convertible debt that was recently converted to equity, brings to $3 million the total that Dean and others have invested in the 4-year-old company.

AssistGuide acts as an Internet service provider for long-term healthcare companies like nursing homes or in-home care firms. It has clients in Hawai'i, St. Louis, Houston and Dallas. Company founder Kevin Sypniewski said the latest investment has helped 25-employee AssistGuide add several employees in Hawai'i and on the Mainland.