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Indianapolis-based Prevounce Health is in growth mode—but tariffs have created some speed bumps that will likely slow the med-tech company’s growth this year, its CEO says.
Prevounce, which was founded in Los Angeles in 2019 and relocated to Indianapolis in 2021, sells blood pressure monitors, blood glucose monitors and other equipment that can connect to cellular communications networks, allowing health care providers to remotely monitor patients with chronic health conditions. The company also offers related software.
Last month, Prevounce completed an expansion that roughly doubled the size of its Post Road headquarters. The company now has 9,000 square feet of warehouse space and an adjacent 4,000 square feet of office space.
Employee headcount is also growing. The company has 56 employees—up from 19 three years ago—and is actively hiring. Half of those 56 employees are Indianapolis-based, with the rest working remotely.
And this week the company closed on a $3.5 million funding round, said CEO and co-founder Dan Tashnek.
But Tashnek said tariffs—especially the frequently changing rates of tariffs against China—have complicated the company’s growth trajectory.
“The uncertainty is the biggest problem,” the CEO said.
Kristin Jones, CEO of the Indiana Life Sciences Association, said the tariffs are creating challenges for medical device makers of all sizes. Her organization’s members range from small startups to large companies like Bloomington-based Cook Medical and Massachusetts-based Boston Scientific, which has a manufacturing site in Spencer.
“Every single one of them is right now trying to juggle what’s happening, get on top of it and manage it,” Jones said.
Shifting to new suppliers is not a quick or easy process for medical device makers, Jones said, because the companies and their supply chains operate in a regulated industry.
Prevounce sources its products from a Chinese manufacturer that is one of very few in the world capable of producing cellular-connected medical devices, Tashnek said.
Previously, the physical devices that Prevounce sells were not subject to any tariffs because they fell under an exemption covering medical devices and pharmaceuticals, Tashnek said.
But the Trump administration ended that exemption in February, imposing tariffs of 20% on the items Prevounce imports. Tariffs spiked at 145% for a short time. On May 12, the U.S. and China agreed to a 90-day tariff reduction, so imports from China are currently under a 30% tariff.
Tashnek said Prevounce had ordered blood pressure cuffs and blood glucose meters that were set to leave China as tariffs were fluctuating so quickly that it was hard to keep track of the rate.
“It was just so confused. Depending on what day [the shipment] hit the ocean, it was different,” Tashnek said. “It was a nightmare.”
For several weeks, Tashnek said, Prevounce stopped importing altogether because the tariffs were so high, and as a result it was only able to sell from the inventory it already had on hand. Once the tariffs dropped to 30%, the company resumed its importing—though the tariffs are cutting into the company’s profit margin.
The software side of Prevounce’s business has helped keep the company afloat, Tashnek said. “We’re very lucky that we have the software side of the business, because that’s where the [profit] margin is now. If we were just [selling] devices, we would be in major trouble.”
The company is limited in its ability to raise customer prices, the CEO said, because the amount customers are willing to pay is linked to health insurance reimbursement rates.
Tashnek said the company is also fortunate to be gaining traction with health systems and physicians. Prevounce is currently serving nearly 50,000 patients, up from 30,000 last year.
Prevounce saw 120% revenue growth in 2024, Tashnek said, and he had been expecting similar growth this year. But the tariffs are changing the equation, and now he expects revenue growth to be more like 80% to 90%.
As one way to help mitigate tariff-related uncertainty, Prevounce recently launched a refurbishment program. Patients receive a postage-paid mailing label with their devices, and if they no longer need the device they can send it back to the company. Prevounce employees can then refurbish the equipment and send it to new patients.
Refurbishing existing equipment allows Prevounce to reduce its reliance on imported goods. Tashnek said the company had been considering a refurbishment program for a while, but decided to implement it in February because of the tariff situation.
Economist Andrew Butters, an associate professor at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business in Bloomington, said he believes tariffs will end up falling below their current rates, though he also thinks they will remain higher than they were at the beginning of the year.
“The biggest takeaway in my mind,” Butters said, “is that if there’s one thing that businesses can probably all agree on, it’s that they don’t like uncertainty.”
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