Elk Grove has awarded one of its Startup Elk Grove Incentive Program grants to VestLife Inc., a 3-year-old startup whose cloud-based app helps track records for people with lifetime developmental disabilities.
The $30,000 grant is the first outside money for the company, which has five employees.
“It’s a unified platform for providers and parents, and it can be with them for life,” said Michael Pearce, co-founder of the company with his wife Susan Chin Pearce.
The application allows parents to organize their child’s special needs records, files and key information, and keep it all in one place that is accessible from any device. The information can also be offered up to care providers or services, avoiding repetitive paperwork or inputting. The information on the Vest application is necessary for providers to get federally required Home and Community Based Services data, or HCBS, for Medicaid beneficiaries.
Pearce said the company has revenue from its subscription model, but he declined to say how much.
The clients who need the information typically have limited or no verbal ability, Pearce said.
“Every time you change services or providers, you leave all that information behind,” he said. With the Vest platform, that information can be updated and maintained with access for the client's lifetime.
This is the third grant Elk Grove has made to a local company, plus it supported the coworking space InnoGrove, said Luis Aguilar, economic development specialist with the city.
The city grants under the program don’t have to be paid back to the city, unless the company is sold or moves out of Elk Grove.
“Over time, we hope to have many of these,” Aguilar said.
Entrepreneurs are hearing about Elk Grove’s program through word of mouth and through events, like the city’s inaugural Pitch Elk Grove startup company competition, as well as media coverage, Aguilar said. “We’ve even gotten interest from companies from out of town.”
Pearce and his wife have lived in Elk Grove for 25 years, and he said he’s interested in growing the company in the city. Pearce worked for years as an attorney focused on special needs family issues, and he initially built the app to help parents.
