Ike Nnah
Ike Nnah, David Coppins, and Chris Caulfield founded IntelyCare in 2016. Ike Nnah’s older brother, Dr. Prince Nnah, also helped start the company. Ike Nnah is currently the Chief Technical Officer of IntelyCare. IntelyCare assists post-acute healthcare facilities, such as skilled nursing facilities and home healthcare services, to match up with professional nursing staff looking for open positions.
Early life
Ike Nnah was born in Nigeria and he and his family moved to the United States when he was around 13. Ike Nnah’s mother was a nurse and his father was a serial entrepreneur. Together, they had five children and Ike’s mother worked two jobs while his father worked on getting his businesses underway. Ike said,
“Watching how hard they worked at the things they’ve loved and the investments they made in our futures has helped me immensely in making my own startup successful.” Ike credits a lot of his success to lessons from the book “The Innovator’s Dilemma” by Clayton Christensen.
Early career
Ike Nnah graduated from the University of Massachusetts Boston with a degree in Management Information Systems. He started out working in IT in hospitals and healthcare organizations in Boston. He first worked at MEDITECH and then became the Director of Information Services at Radius Speciality Hospital. As an information systems specialist and contract negotiator, he developed a unique perspective on the staffing struggles of healthcare organizations.
IntelyCare
IntelyCare was developed as a new way to approach staffing of post-acute healthcare facilities. The platform registers the skills, attributes, and needs of nursing professionals and organizations that need staff, and matches them with a machine learning AI that was trained with behavioral science principles.
Some of the stated goals of IntelyCare are to improve the work-life balance of nurses and enhance the diversity and inclusiveness of nursing. Other goals include making staffing a pleasant, simple process for healthcare organizations and making nurses happier by matching them with their ideal jobs.
When asked about the idea behind the company and the role of his brother, Prince, Ike said,
“I built the software. Prince is the outgoing one. Prince wants to talk to everybody. I am the one that is in front of the computer trying to figure out things. Prince is out there talking to people. We felt like with the combination we could conquer the world.”
They raised $45 million to start the company and it has been very successful, growing and producing good profits.
Ike Nnah, hero of the COVID-19 crisis
During the COVID-19 pandemic, post-acute healthcare facilities really struggled with staffing. Ike Nnah and IntelyCare stepped up to help. They created a COVID-19 Best Practices Training module and used their app to train around 550,000 nursing professionals. They also developed a system to track infections progressing through healthcare facilities that alerted the staff and facilities to new exposures.
Ike Nnah was honored by being listed on SIA’s 40 under 40 to watch list in 2020. SIA, which stands for Staffing Industry Analysts, is an international company that provides advice on staffing and workforce solutions.
Ike Nnah volunteers with ET4Africa, a nonprofit that helps young people access education and technology. When he was asked if he had any advice for young people, Ike said “The future depends on them. It’s time for them to take action, and I believe that when people are given the power to make a change, they will…We need to ensure that everyone has access to the internet and education at their disposal.”
Ike Nnah, entrepreneur and Black founder of IntelyCare, is a true inspiration. He reinvented the way healthcare staffing works and really stepped up and helped people survive the COVID-19 pandemic. In his spare time, he helps young people acquire the tools they need to succeed in life.
Ike Nnah is part of our Black Founders50 Series. Download the complete 2023 BBVA Founders50 list here.
