Youth and technology are no longer synonymous. HomeHero, a startup that raised $20 million this week by focusing on home care services for senior citizens, is setting a trend that could revolutionise the tech industry.
Home care services are not only archaic. Characterised by little accountability, they hide dangers for one of society’s most vulnerable age group.
Every year, over 4 million older Americans are victims of physical, psychological or other forms of abuse and neglect, according to the American Psychological Association. Those statistics may not tell the whole story.
Hidden problem of elder abuse
HomeHero founder Kyle Hill saw his father cry after he found out that the caregivers for his Seattle-based, 95-year old grandmother, had been mistreating her. She is now HomeHero’s longest standing and oldest client.
The home care system is antiquated and has been grossly neglected by the tech industry for too long. With this in mind, founders Hill and Mike Townsend turned to technology to help millions of families afford quality home care services, and disrupt what is considered the fastest-growing industry in America.
The massive Baby Boom generation
According to CNET, startups such as HomeHero provide more options to the massive Baby Boom generation, those born in the time after World War II, as they begin to retire and “face their twilight years”.
In fact, between 2000 and 2030, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the population of people older than 65 will more than double, to 72.1 million, and the total amount spent on elder-care services will grow 5 percent annually through 2016, when the market would reach $320 billion.
So how does HomeHero work?
Basically users are matched with three individually chosen caregivers, and are able to watch HD interview with all of them before getting started. Senior citizens in need pay a price of only $18 per hour to receive high-quality home care services.
At the same time, employees of such innovative system are also earning more, as HomeHero cuts out the extra costs thanks to technology.
Home care services with 1 million work hours
As of today, over 1 million work hours have been booked through the HomeHero website, clearly indicating a huge demand for such service. Following last week’s massive financial injection, HomeHero Mike Townsend, stated that the company will be growing by an average of 20% every month.
The company is now planning to expand their care services to other regions, such as San Diego, the Bay Area and Sul Belt cities in Texas, Florida and Arizona.
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