Health IT, Startups

Insurance giant acquires caregiver matchmaker CareLinx

The deal with Generali Group could set a precedent for CareLinx's rivals with the prospect that these businesses could also be acquired by global insurance companies.

CareLinx, an online marketplace matching up patients and their families with caregivers for hire, has been acquired by Generali Global Assistance, which is part of Europ Assistance Group and Generali Group.

The French company dates back to 1963 and was originally known for providing worldwide medical assistance. Since then it has evolved as a provider of health, home and family, automotive and travel insurance. as a group that develops care and mobility services in challenging and stressful situations.

Generali Global Assistance said in a news release that CareLinx shares its mission of improving lives through its services to reduce the stress of caring for loved ones.

“By providing CareLinx with the necessary resources to rapidly expand their marketshare, we believe we will help them positively affect change to senior care
services in the United States,” said Chris Carnicelli, CEO of Generali Global Assistance.

Although financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, CareLinx acquisition by a company of this scale is interesting and could set a precedent for rivals. Home care staffing companies have sought to make their services more flexible and thereby more affordable, such as Honor, Cariloop, and Hometeam. But one weakness of this healthcare sector is that qualified staff are hard to find for this kind of laborious work where compassion, empathy, and patience are essential. The Trump administration’s immigration reform moves, such as his actions with Dreamers, also risk making the task of building and maintaining a sufficient workforce that much harder.

Generali Global Assistance said it will integrate CareLinx’s network of non-clinical in-home caregivers with its existing remote clinical support business providing “a wide spectrum of post-acute assistance services. Generali’s remote support center gives nurse and doctor-supported telephonic medical assistance and navigation 24 hours per day and stated it will be leveraged by CareLinx customers and partners, the news release said.

CareLinx has built a national network in the past few years. Last year, it raised more than $5 million in a funding round led by Generator Ventures and Ziegler Link·age Longevity Fund to boost staff and launch national marketing initiatives. It was also a StartUp Health portfolio company.

In Dember last year, CareLinx made a deal with Lyft to offer its customers access to the ride-sharing service on its app. The agreement means that in places where CareLinx and Lyft are offered, family members and caregivers can order a “CareRide” from CareLinx for a doctor’s appointment, for example, and can track the status of the ride.

Photo: maxsattana, Getty Images 

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