5 In-Home Care Startups To Watch In 2023

Whether its food, fashion or transportation, startups are known for playing the role of disruptor in whatever sector they’re operating in. 

While disruption can lead to innovation and efficiency, it’s also important for startups operating in senior care and home-based care to have a sound business model, healthy funding, strong backers, a clear value-add, advantageous partnerships and proper wherewithal to fully integrate into the space.

Home Health Care News did a deep dive into the standout startups that have cemented themselves in the senior care and home-based care space in recent years.

These companies have the above mentioned characteristics and more, making each one a startup to watch in 2023 and beyond.

Homethrive

At a time when aging in place is the established preference among seniors, Homethrive has cropped up as an aging-in-place enabler.

Homethrive’s staff of social workers provides clients with comprehensive care plans, as well as coaching, personal assistance and concierge services.

“One of the most common things [we do] is we help people understand the differences between ‘skilled’ and ‘non-skilled’ home care, helping them access that,” Homethrive co-founder and co-CEO Dave Jacobs previously told Home Health Care News. “That’s one of the most common things people come to us for, in terms of services. We are very much a partner for home care [agencies] across the country.”

The company was originally launched in 2018. Jacobs and his business partner David Greenberg were inspired by their own challenges with caregiving for their parents.

They brought their extensive health care backgrounds to this venture, having both been executives at the health care products company Medline Industries previously.

“Despite the fact that we were health care executives with a lot of knowledge of the industry, and were fortunate to have close families and the means to support our families, the caregiving journey was incredibly challenging,” Jacobs, previously told HHCN. “It was difficult.”

The Northbrook, Illinois-based company works with home care agencies, long-term care insurance companies and Medicare Advantage plans. Homethrive is also offered as a benefit at companies like Michigan Manufacturers Association, law firm McDermott Will & Emery and health-tech startup Emids.

In 2020, Homethrive raised $18 million, led by venture capital firm 7wireVentures and investment firm Pitango HealthTech.

At the time, Jacobs earmarked the funds to be used for a number of avenues that would push the company forward.

“We’re going to accelerate our penetration into health plans and also accelerate our penetration into the self-insured employer market,” he said. “Additionally, we are investing considerably to build out the technology stack that will power the service we provide to those different markets.”

Two years later, Homethrive raised an additional $20 million, led by Human Capital. Allianz, 7wireVentures and Pitango HealthTech also participated.

This new round of funding would help fuel what the company considers an “aggressive” plan to expand, as well as to accelerate its technology investments, specifically its digital assistant.

MedArrive

Already one of the “most successful” startups in the home-based care arena, MedArrive is certainly one to watch.

The New York-based company coordinates and delivers care in the home. MedArrive works with health systems and health plans to enable home-based care, utilizing non-traditional workers on the way, such as emergency medical services (EMS) professionals.

The company was founded in 2020 — Dan Trigub, the former head of Uber Health, and a former member of Lyft’s health care arm – is its CEO. MedArrive launched with $4.5 million in seed funding. .

“At the end of the day, Uber is a massive technology company with lots and lots of competing priorities,” Trigub told HHCN at the time. “I don’t think anyone would disagree, but it’s really not a health care company as its primary initiative. For me, I really wanted the opportunity to do more in health care.”

He founded the company with Inna Plumb, MedArrive’s COO, with the backing of Redesign Health, Kleiner Perkins and Define Ventures.

“I convinced Redesign, we went through our investment committee process to provide our seed stage funding.” Plumb said during an episode of HHCN+ TALKS last year. “We got to know CEO Dan Trigub. We clicked really well and the rest is history. We raised our seed from Redesign and then went on to raise an extension from Kleiner Perkins and Define Ventures, and then closed our Series A at the end of 2021. That’s our story.”

Plumb’s background includes a career in finance as an investment banker. She also spent time at the meal kit service company Blue Apron (NYSE: APRN).

Since its launch, the company has been able to lock down numerous strategic partnerships with companies such as Health Net, Superior HealthPlan, Brave Health and Spect.

“Partnerships sound really sexy, but at the end of the day, they have to serve a purpose,” Plumb said. “We really let the population and the needs of the population dictate what partnerships we form. When we identify a need within a population, then we go out and find the best possible partner there.”

MedArrive has also prioritized geographic expansion over the years. Currently, the company has nationwide capabilities, but is mostly focused in Florida, Texas, California and North Carolina.

More recently, MedArrive secured $8 million in funding this past April. Overall, the company has raised more than $40 million since it officially launched.

Inbound Health

As an off-shoot of Allina Health, Inbound Health is a hospital-at-home and SNF-at-home enablement platform.

Last year, Inbound Health became a separate entity, and launched with $20 million in funding from Flare Capital Partners.

“We started this internally within Allina Health,” Inbound Health CEO Dave Kerwar previously told HHCN. “As we built out our platform, it became probably one of the largest programs in the country. We designed it in such a way that it could be essentially multi-tenant. We could do this not just for Allina, but other health systems, too.”

As part of its business model, the company works with health plans and health systems that are developing, or have up-and-running, hospital-at-home or SNF-at-home programs. When working with these partners, Inbound Health offers up the care model, clinical leaders, a technology platform that includes a workflow layer, a virtual command center made up of biometric monitoring nurses, triage nurses and virtual hospitalists.

Additionally, Inbound Health’s capabilities also include supply chain, labor and logistics partners, a machine learning analytics platform, an operations unit and a payer-contracting capability for health systems.

“We bring all those capabilities, but most of the health systems and health plans we talk to have some, if not all of those ingredients,” Kerwar said. “Our operating model allows us, over time, to turn on or off those capability sets, so our health systems can look at us as a flexible partner.”

Compared to other startups on this list, Inbound Health is still more local, but its aim is to expand its reach. The company is looking to lock down more partners in other markets. Currently, it counts Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota as one of its health plan partners.

As part of its growth strategy, the company recently expanded to include post-surgical care for general surgery earlier this month. This move creates value for potential hospital partners, according to Kerwar.

“ORs across the country are essentially getting backed up, and their ability to increase the elective surgery count is getting constrained,” he said. “This is because there’s no brick-and-mortar skilled nursing facility bed for the patient to step down to.”

DUOS

DUOS first appeared in the senior care scene in 2020. It had $6 million in seed funding from investors Redesign Health and Forerunner Ventures, as well as a relationship with Magellan Health Inc. (Nasdaq: MGLN).

DUOS is a New York-based company that helps place expert personal assistants — “Duos” — into the homes of older adults. The company engages with the seniors through Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and dual-eligible plans in order to help them age in place.

In addition to working with payer and provider organizations, DUOS is also direct to consumer.

Last year, when the company raised $15 million, led by Imaginary Ventures, it set its sights on growth and technology advancements.

“The funding itself will be used to continue to build out our incredible team from a product engineering and design standpoint,” DUOS CEO Karl Ulfers previously told HHCN. “In terms of what we’re focused on with them, we really want to be a leader in technology for the older adult and caregiving space.”

Ultimately, the company is one to watch because it’s been able to gain a foothold with MA plans who are looking to retain members in a market crowded with available plan options.

“That’s creating churn within their business,” Ulfers said at the Home Care 100 conference in February. “They’re looking for solutions like ours to help them be engaged in those benefits, so they stay on the benefits longer.”

Tomorrow Health

When Tomorrow Health first launched, its business model drew comparison to online retail giant Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN).

Since then, the company announced that it was revamping its business model. In May, Tomorrow Health announced its plans to shut down its medical supply business. It would shift focus to technology and other solutions.

However, the company still plans on working with its home medical equipment (HME) supplier partners.

“HME suppliers are a critical lever to shift care to the home, which is often overlooked by payers,” Tomorrow Health CEO and co-founder Vijay Kedar said in a press statement at the time. “Tomorrow Health’s technology and unique position with payers enables change end to end, supporting everything from prescription to reimbursement while arming suppliers with valuable insights that can drive business growth and ensure positive experiences for every single stakeholder.”

Seeing what Tomorrow Health plans to do next is reason enough for the company to make this list, but it also has an impressive past track record.

Since launching, the New York-based company has secured $92.5 million in funding. Tomorrow Health also works with a big network of providers, as well as 125 health plans and health systems.

The company also has a long list of backers, including Andreessen Horowitz, BOND and Obvious Ventures and more.

Plus, Tomorrow Health rolled out a product that is meant to help providers in the Medicaid and home- and community-based services space in May.

Looking ahead, the company sees this restructuring of its business model as a way to “unlock new opportunities” and lift roadblocks for its home-based care provider network.