When Chin joined IgniteData in 2023 after a decade at Epic, the company was just beginning to make its case in a complex industry. “Initially, the question was: What is EHR to EDC? Who is IgniteData?” Chin recalls. “Fast forward two years, and the conversation is: How can we get this into our organization — and why should we choose you over others? “.
That shift signals more than market awareness; it shows a growing thirst for real solutions in an industry overwhelmed by siloed systems and manual processes.
“It’s music to my ears,” Chin adds. “This kind of competition means we’re solving a real problem.”
The Timing is Now
Carson, who brings over 15 years in enterprise and health tech, sees a confluence of technology, market maturity, and need that makes IgniteData’s work especially timely. “What we’re doing now wasn’t even possible five years ago. Smart on FHIR, cloud infrastructure, EHR maturity—it’s all converging. Now is the moment to connect source systems with the tools sponsors use to get drugs to market.”
And this isn’t just a vision anymore. The market is responding, actively pulling solutions like IgniteData’s from both site and sponsor sides.
The Delicate Dance Between Sites and Sponsors
As Chin puts it, “It’s not about just one side. It’s about both. The perfect fit only happens when you have a site eager to reduce burden and a sponsor with a pipeline that makes the technology worthwhile.”
Carson agrees. “Sponsors have invested billions in molecules that are entering Phase II and III trials. They’re not asking if this tech matters anymore. They’re asking how fast we can go.”
High turnover, remote work, and coordinator burnout have only intensified the need. IgniteData’s technology doesn’t just move data faster; it gives time and satisfaction back to staff.
Staff Retention Through Innovation
Manual data entry is a silent killer of job satisfaction for Clinical Research Coordinators. Sites with 70%+ turnover are not uncommon.
“This isn’t just about automation,” Carson says. “It’s about why people do this work. Coordinators didn’t sign up to copy data from one system to another. When our tool reduces that burden, job satisfaction goes up, and retention follows.”
Chin adds, “If people choose to stop using your tool, that’s the real test. And guess what? They’re sticking with it.”
From One-Study Pilots to Portfolio-Wide Impact
What was once a pilot project is now scaling to entire portfolios. “In the past, it was about proving the tech on a single study,” Chin explains. “Now sites want to use it across everything. They don’t have time to waste.”
Carson puts it plainly: “We’re no longer at the ‘prove it’ stage. We’re at the ‘how fast can we scale’ stage.”
Scaling Without the Burden
One of IgniteData’s biggest differentiators? The company does the heavy lifting. “We own the install, we do the mapping,” says Chin. “Yes, there’s an upfront investment of 15-20 hours for a site. But after that? We don’t charge them for commercial studies. And the hours per study drop dramatically.”
Carson notes that this opens the floodgates. “When a site is ready to scale, sponsors follow. And when sponsors see they can deploy entire portfolios efficiently, they’re in. That’s when real transformation happens.”
Final Word: This Is Happening Now
IgniteData is no longer describing a future state—it’s delivering on it.
“This is no longer aspirational,” says Carson. “This is live data moving in real-time. Organizations that delay risk falling behind.”
Chin underscores the shift underway: “The industry is moving forward. Peer institutions are already engaged. The question now is whether you’re prepared to keep pace.”
