With the constant drumbeat of solutions to help seniors stay in their homes as long as possible, a lot of remote monitoring tools and services have hit the market or are under development. By definition, it’s a challenge to make a noninvasive device designed to collect information on a person’s activity. The folks being monitored often have to make some tradeoff with technology and privacy. But Evermind views using appliances like a coffee machine or a TV as a proxy for human activity in the context of a person’s daily routine substantially less invasive than using motion sensors or cameras to measure movement or detect falls.
It has closed a $2.5 million Series A round , according to an amended Form D filing with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In a phone interview with MedCity News, CEO and co-founder Dave Gilbert said Tristar Technology Ventures led the Series A along with Solidus and Launch Tennessee. Angel investors also backed the company. The financing is to help execute its marketing plan and prepare the way for a Series B at the beginning of 2015.
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It is selling the equipment direct to consumers from its website as well as through home medical device retailers. Caregivers receive text messages if the person being monitored deviates from their routine, prompting them to check in with their loved ones.
“It helps people stay connected to loved ones without having to turn their homes into clinics,” Gilbert said. His 97 year old grandmother was the company’s first test user, particularly because of her aversion to wearing traditional monitors like a medical alert pendant.
Gilbert formed the company in 2012 with five other former employees of Griffin Technology, which develops accessories for iPhones and iPads. Its founder, Paul Griffin, sits on Evermind’s board of directors.
The company wanted to tackle some challenges outside of consumer electronics and landed on healthcare. Gilbert recalled how he and his colleagues would visit big box retailers such as Walmart and Target to get inspired.
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“We’d walk over to the entertainment section and see beautifully designed products. Then we’d walk over to the home monitoring devices that relied on the same technology as entertainment products, but existed in the backwater of industrial design. They were designed only for an insurance company to love.” They decided to improve on passive monitoring devices.
It doesn’t require users to have Wi-Fi access because it connects to Verizon’s cellular data network and can transmit data from cell phone towers to a server.
Although it works with consumer appliances, it’s also designed to work as an accessory for lift chairs and ventilators as well. Evermind plans to roll out the accessory to several medical devices used at home.