When data engineer and entrepreneur Ricky Romanek began consulting for hospitals in 2022, he was shocked to find that many were still managing millions of dollars in insurance claims with little more than spreadsheets and sticky notes. That experience inspired him to launch ClaimTra, an automated claims analytics platform designed to help hospitals recover revenue lost to denied or underpaid insurance claims. Romanek, now the CEO and founder of the startup, is part of the 2025 CoBuilders cohort, after placing in a pitch competition sponsored by The Bean Path in Jackson. His placement is also sponsored by The Higher Purpose Hub, based in the Mississippi Delta.
“Bean Path is proud to support Ricky Romanek’s business, ClaimTra, through the CoBuilders process and to the Accelerate conference stage,” said Tamika Jenkins, executive director of the BeanPath. “As a community-centered organization committed to bridging access to technology and entrepreneurship, we are honored to walk alongside visionary founders who are shaping Mississippi’s economic future. Empowering small businesses with tools, mentorship, and strategic guidance is at the heart of our mission—and we’re thrilled to celebrate their growth on this statewide stage.”
The platform doesn’t just organize claims—it analyzes them. ClaimTra uses AI to detect when insurance companies have underpaid claims based on historical data. The system also includes collaborative tools that allow billing and coding teams to assign tasks, track progress, and communicate directly within each claim. “We’ve essentially replaced that pile of sticky notes with a digital messaging board,” Romanek said. “Everyone can see what’s happening, which claims need attention, and where things stand.”
The need for tools like ClaimTra is enormous. According to Romanek, U.S. hospitals lose an estimated $290 billion annually due to denied claims—about $5 million per hospital per year—and as much as 65 percent of that is recoverable. Manually identifying and resubmitting a denied claim can cost a hospital between $60 and $125 in labor and overhead; ClaimTra cuts that cost by about 75 percent.
“We’ve seen cases where hospitals lost hundreds of thousands of dollars simply because something fell through the cracks,” Romanek said. “Our system helps them find those cracks before the money disappears.”
Through the CoBuilders accelerator, Romanek says he’s learning to think beyond the code and focus on building a sustainable business.
“Tony [Jeff] has a great analogy—giving funding to a startup that isn’t ready is like strapping a rocket booster to a lawn chair,” he said. “CoBuilders is helping me make sure I’ve got the rocket attached to a real vehicle.” Romanek is currently preparing to raise $300,000 in his first round of outside investment to grow his team and onboard more hospitals. By April 2026, he expects ClaimTra to be serving at least eight hospitals, with a business development team bringing on several new clients each month.
Based in Brandon, Mississippi, Romanek aims to expand ClaimTra within the state. In addition to building his company, he teaches coding at The Bean Path. “If we develop the skills here, companies will come,” he said. “Mississippi has the talent and resources to build great tech companies—I want ClaimTra to be one of them.”
