Ianacare, a healthcare company that supports family caregivers, has scored $12.1 million in a series A funding round.
The investment was led by Greycroft alongside participation from 8VC, SemperVirens VC, Able Partners and Brown Alumni Group. Returning investors included Slow, Founder Collective, Indicator Ventures, Entree Capital, Cue Ball, Service Provider Capital and AARP. The company plans to use the capital to boost sales and grow the internal team and operations amid rising demand helped along by the COVID-19 pandemic.
To date, ianacare has raised $16.7 million, according to TechCrunch.
“Creating a true infrastructure of care in the home environment requires access, knowledge, and guidance,” co-founder and Chief Operating Officer Steven Lee said in a press release. “What we realized was that thousands of resources and services already exist, but they are highly fragmented and difficult to find. The power of technology allows us to bring large systems together, enable simpler connection and coordination and deliver highly personalized experiences at scale.”
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Greycroft Partner Ellie Wheeler will be joining ianacare’s board. “For the last several years, we’ve had a strong thesis that the caregiving space was ripe for innovative impact,” she said in the announcement. “When we saw the comprehensive nature of ianacare’s platform and the passion behind the founders’ personal experiences, we knew they were the right team to lead this incredible transformation.”
The startup, which launched less than one year ago in March 2021, offers an integrated platform for family caregivers via employers and health plans through which they can communicate, coordinate care and access resources like a caregiver coach. The company is trying to break into an ever-expanding market. By 2030, there will be 71 million seniors. Yet, while the current rate of potential caregiver per adult is 7 to 1, that will shrink by 2030 to 4 to 1. Many of these are unpaid caregivers.
A growing number of seniors are choosing to age in place, which represents a key market opportunity for healthcare and digital health companies like ianacare.