By Emma Campbell - August
30, 2019
The Baby Boomer generation is getting old. By the year 2030,
every single Boomer will be over the age of 65.
With
the increase in the senior population comes an increase in the services they
need. The country’s home care market is expected to grow from $100 billion in
2016 to $225 billion by 2024, driven by an expanding elderly population,
Business Insider reported last
month.
In
Boston alone, there were 88,000 people over 60 years old in 2010; by 2030,
projected increases in the older population will result in as many as 130,000
seniors residing in Boston, according to a report commissioned by the city in 2014.
The
local startup community is stepping up to help. We’ve rounded up seven different
companies that provide smartphone-enabled training programs, VR experiences
aimed at seniors and more.
CareAcademy
CareAcademy
makes senior care training more accessible through its mobile-first platform.
If you’re a private caregiver, CareAcademy will provide classes based on your
state’s training requirements. With suggested and customized programs, the
company has certified
thousands. Helen Adeosun and Madhuri Reddy founded the company in
2013.
“Caregivers
get so little training, I think people would actually be shocked,”
Adeosun told BostInno in 2017. That year, the startup graduated from
Techstars Boston and raised a $1.7 million seed round. In November, it sold $800,000 of a $1.2 million equity funding round,
according to an SEC filing. CareAcademy currently works out of Venture Lane, a new coworking
space in Government Center.
connectRN
connectRN
is a digital platform that schedules on-demand health care staffing. Health
care facilities, like hospitals and assisted living centers, use the app to
list available shifts for registered nurses to fill. To use the app, nurses
simply need to sign up, submit their required documents and complete a
“competency quiz.” If hired, they’ll also receive training on how to use the
software. On the facilities side, staffing managers can track open shifts and
review nurses’ requests to fill them.
The
platform was founded in 2014 by Idriz Limaj and Mike Wood. To date,
connectRN has disclosed just over $11.5 million in equity and debt. The
money comes from a variety of angel investing rounds. The latest one, said
Wood, was a Series A round led by Jeffery Boyd, former CEO and current chair of
Priceline. That money will allow Waltham-based connectRN to expand nationally.
Devoted
Health
One of
BostInno’s 2019 Coolest Companies finalists, Devoted Health is devoted to
changing healthcare. Its grand idea: to partner with providers to offer seniors
with Medicare Advantage plans individualized assistance with personal guides
and technology support. The company raised $300 million in Series B funding in October 2018;
it raised $62 million in 2017, the same year it was
co-founded by Ed Park, Jeremy Delinsky and Todd Park. Devoted Health was nominated for “Healthcare IT Startup of the Year” by the
New England Venture Capital Association earlier this year.
Eversound
This
startup actually began as a device-maker for silent discos. Today, its founders
have pivoted to serving seniors: at the highest level, Eversound wants to help
seniors who have hearing loss or hearing impediments. To that end, the startup
has developed a wireless headphone system that allows seniors in assisted
living communities to tune into specific audio sources happening around them,
whether that’s a movie being shown, a game of bingo or a concert. Users
just have to connect the audio device to the transmitter, and audio is
communicated wirelessly. An Eversound set includes headphones, a transmitter, a
portable charging case and a clip-on microphone.
The
company was founded in 2015 by Jake Reisch, Matt Reiners, and Devin Jameson.
It closed a $3 million seed round in 2016, and in February
this year, it raised a $5 million Series A round led by Ron Feinstein,
former CEO at Lifeline Systems, with participation from Shelter Group, Red Bear
Angels and 10X Ventures.
Kinto
Meet
Kinto, an app that strives to be “kin to you.” It offers caregivers a set of digital tools, like
a to-do list and medication management systems, to help them take care of aging
loved ones. The app also has a community feature that allows seniors to
connect with other Kinto users.
Founded
in 2016 by the serial entrepreneurs at Redstar Ventures, Kinto was
selected as a finalist at the 2017 AARP Innovation@50+ LivePitch, a two-day pitch
competition for emerging startups in the health and financial technology
sectors.
QMedic
We’re
all familiar with Life Alert commercials (and the resulting memes), but has the
medical alert system been updated since “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up” went
viral? QMedic thinks so. The startup aims to create the medical alert device
for a new generation. With cellular, landline and mobile GPS services, those in
need can contact QMedic’s call center or relatives based on the severity of the
injury. The device is waterproof and does not need to be charged. It comes with
a “home base” with a two-way speakerphone, and it sends proactive alerts if the
system senses abnormal behavior from the wearer. David Nelson, Fahd
Albinali and Sombit Mishra founded QMedic in 2010. Since then, the
company has been awarded millions of dollars in grants from the
National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
Rendever
Depression
and social isolation are epidemics that affect residents in senior living
centers, and Rendever want to help. Rendever is a virtual reality experience
aimed at seniors, especially those with dementia, who can no
longer explore the world by themselves. Co-founded by Kyle Rand, Thomas
Neumann, Reed Hayes and Dennis Lally in 2015, Rendever uses customized
reminiscence therapy to transport seniors to places from their pasts or
bucket-list locations they’ve always wanted to see, all within the walls of
their care facility.
“Virtual
reality is definitely going to be a big force in the tech market,” co-founder
Reed Hayes told BostInno in 2016. “We want to use it for this older
population, a demographic who can benefit the most from it but who are the
least capable of using it themselves.”
Rendever graduated from the TiE ScaleUp accelerator in 2018.
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