An emerging Cincinnati health care tech startup has landed funding from two well-known venture capital firms with Midwest ties as Covid has accelerated growth in its space.
Over-the-Rhine-headquartered Carefeed, which provides digital communication solutions to senior care facilities, said Tuesday it closed a financing round led by Indianapolis- and Cincinnati-based Allos Ventures, with participation from M25, a Chicago- and Indianapolis-based VC firm.
The amount was not disclosed.
The funding will allow Carefeed to expand its footprint across the U.S. and Canada, enhance its platform and broaden its offerings into other patient care settings beyond skilled and senior living communities.
John McIlwraith, managing director of Allos, said the round, equivalent to a seed investment, follows “very strong” year-over-year annual recurring revenue growth.
“It’s an amazing young company,” McIlwraith told me. “They’re out of the gate very fast, and it’s a great space. There is such a need, even before Covid, for an easy-to-use platform that can do things this platform can do.”
Carefeed’s HIPAA-secure platform works by digitizing and distributing any materials health care providers would share with their patients, patient's families, staff or referral sources — using text, email, voice and video to give updates and announcements, enable e-signature of admission agreements, allow staff-to-resident/family and staff-to-staff communication, schedule care conferences and offsite doctors’ appointments, and more.
The platform saves administrators time and increases family involvement in care.
Over the past year, Carefeed said, many senior care communities discovered their traditional communications systems and processes were inadequate, inefficient — and often non-compliant with state and federal regulations.
To date, Carefeed clients include Los Angeles-based NewGen Health; Embassy Healthcare, which operates 43 communities throughout Ohio, Pennsylvania and Florida; and Health Services Management, with 21 communities in Indiana, Florida, Tennessee and Texas.
“Senior care providers are under extraordinary pressure especially in a post-Covid-19 environment,” Terry Wall, founder and CEO of Carefeed, said in a release. “Effective communications is critical in building trust and giving peace of mind and assurance to residents, families, staff and others.”
Wall, prior to launching Carefeed, led national sales for the hospital business unit at Kenwood-based PatientPoint, a Cincinnati health care tech company led by Mike Collette. PatientPoint, which makes digital waiting room screens, announced in March its merger with Chicago-based Outcome Health. Wall spent seven years traveling the country working with hospitals and health systems and witnessed first-hand the need for tech enhancements in the elder care space.
The Carefeed team also includes Steve Hatch, VP of engineering, an experienced tech entrepreneur with 30 years of software design and development. Hatch has worked with the likes of Quest Diagnostics, Luxottica, Fidelity and Great American Insurance and multiple application integrations including PointClickCare, Quanom, Surescripts and Epic.
McIlwraith, who is based in Cincinnati, said he was introduced to Carefeed during a recent event held by Ocean, the accelerator born out of Crossroads Church. After further due diligence, he encouraged Carefeed to consider the round.
This is Allos’ fifth active investment in the Cincinnati market, including Coterie, Enosix, Abre and Cordata.
“(Carefeed) will use this capital to fuel their accelerating growth, and I think you’ll read more about them in the coming months and years,” McIlwraith said.
Carefeed is a gBeta Cincy and SoCap Accelerate alum. The company was named an Inno “Startup to Watch” for 2021.
Founded in 2020, the company has six full-time employees.
