Village Capital report zeroes in on reimagining senior care

The report from the venture capital firm looks at how startups are innovating within the senior care space, particularly when it comes to caregiving, clinical insights and financial planning.

A new report from Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm Village Capital takes a closer look at how startups are approaching innovation within the senior care space.

It builds on the knowledge gained from Health: US 2018, a venture development program Village Capital and Kaiser Permanente ran earlier this year. Ten startups made the cut for the cohort, and two peer-selected companies — Advocatia and TCARE — were named finalists. They each earned an offer of $75,000 in investment capital from VilCap Investments.

The new report narrows in on three categories: caregiving, clinical insights and financial planning.

“It’s not just about health … but the things on the periphery that do impact someone’s health,” Allyson Plosko, the manager of Health: US Ventures at Village Capital, said in a phone interview. “Healthcare is moving outside the traditional health system.”

Diving in, the document notes that the caregiving sector varies from informal caregiving (involving family and friends who provide unpaid care to seniors) to formal caregiving (involving home health agencies) to senior housing.

Though Plosko said the “payment models are still somewhat tricky” in the caregiving realm, the report does point to a few startups tackling the area.

TCARE, for instance, has a platform that supports unpaid family caregivers and seeks to prevent caregiver burnout. CareAcademy helps care agencies improve caregiver recruiting, onboarding and retention. Rendever brings virtual reality to assisted living facilities in an effort to help seniors experience the outside world.

The clinical insights section of the report examines remote patient monitoring and point-of-care diagnostics.

The RPM space isn’t new, but it does still have its fair share of difficulties, including privacy concerns and regulations that vary from state to state. Still, the report points out that as seniors continue to age, remote patient monitoring will become more important. One startup, Moving Analytics, is making its mark in RPM by providing a remote cardiac rehab and prevention program for heart disease patients.

Point-of-care diagnostics is growing in significance, particularly with the rise of retail clinics and the decentralization of lab testing. But challenges like gaining FDA approval still create a high barrier to entry. Notable startups mentioned in the report include Tasso, which sells a blood collection device called Hemolink to lab testing companies.

Finally, the report looks at technology-enabled financial retirement planning. Early-stage companies like EverSafe are working in this space. The startup offers a software-based system that protects seniors against fraud and financial scams.

Looking ahead, Plosko believes the senior space will only continue to grow when it comes to investing.

“There’s been lots of talk, but you haven’t really seen capital flow to these types of projects. I think that is also changing,” she said. “Over the next couple years, you’ll see more and more startups funded in this arena.”

Photo: Ridofranz, Getty Images

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