UpsideHom co-founder and CEO Jake Rothstein said his grandmother was the inspiration behind his mission to reimagine senior living.
After the death of his grandfather, she was living alone. She was in perfect health and didn't want to relocate to an assisted living facility or nursing home, Rothstein said. But at the same time, he knew she needed companionship and assistance with simple errands like grocery shopping.
"It made me realize there was a tremendous gap in the market for supportive living in a pre-senior living environment," he said.
That led to the creation of UpsideHom, a fully managed, tech-enabled living space for seniors. The Fort Lauderdale-based startup offers turnkey housing to people age 55 and over, matching customers with arrangements that vary from a room in a shared apartment to an entire home.
UpsideHom partners with condo buildings owned by large management companies to offer units in complexes across South Florida. That enables seniors to live among singles and families in intergenerational buildings, an alternative to communal senior living communities that are typically off limits to anyone under the age of 55.
A room in a shared apartment begins at $1,500 a month (UpsideHom can match a user with a roommate) while a private apartment tops out at about $5,000. UpsideHom manages the property for users and streamlines all utility payments into one monthly bill.
Rothstein said about 50% of the company's business consists of single people who want to be matched with a roommate. The other half are couples who typically want to downsize to an apartment from a larger home.
"People are living longer and healthier. Just because someone is 65 or 70 years old doesn't mean they feel ready to move into an assisted living facility," he said. "We want to provide an experience and lifestyle that parallels an individual's aging journey."
UpsideHom doesn't only offer housing. In addition to that core service, its platform provides supportive services, such as grocery deliveries, and administrative tools that manage prescriptions and doctor's appointments.
The company is among a new wave of elder tech startups coming online to serve the nation's massive baby boomer generation. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, at least 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day. By 2030, the nation's entire baby boomer generation – about 73 million people – will have crossed that threshold.
Here's what else you need to know about UpsideHom:
UpsideHom raised $2.25 million from investors this year
Founded in 2020, the startup closed an oversubscribed seed round in July co-led by Triple Impact Capital and Freestyle Capital with participation from TechStars, a Boulder, Colorado-based startup accelerator.
The funding will be used to support the development of UpsideHom's core technology platform, Rothstein said. He said the company experienced 1,000% growth in revenue and bookings in the first half of 2021, but did not disclose exact figures.
This isn't CEO Rothstein's first elder care startup
Rothstein previously co-founded Miami-based Papa with his cousin Andrew Parker, Papa's CEO. Rothstein left the company in 2017, but remains an investor.
Papa is a "family on demand" startup that matches older adults with young companions who assist them with transportation, light house chores, technology lessons, grocery delivery, prescription refills and pickups, and more. In April, Papa closed a $60 million Series C fundraising round led by New York-based Tiger Global Management.
The startup is growing its footprint
UpsideHom is currently operating in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties but will soon expand to the rest of Florida, Rothstein said. From there, the company will target the East Coast of the U.S. before moving west.
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