Homethrive, a tech-enabled provider of non-medical care management and personal assistance services, has raised $18 million in a Series a funding round.
The funding round was led by venture capital firm 7wireVentures and investment firm Pitango HealthTech.
Homethrive has earmarked the new funds to be used in a number of areas, Dave Jacobs, co-founder and co-CEO of Homethrive, told Home Health Care News.
“We’re going to accelerate our penetration into health plans and also accelerate our penetration into the self-insured employer market,” Jacobs said. “Additionally, we are investing considerably to build out the technology stack that will power the service we provide to those different markets.”
Homethrive’s staff of social workers provides clients with a comprehensive care plan for older adults, as well as coaching, personal assistance and concierge services. The Chicago-based company — which has 50 employees — services the private-pay market, long-term care insurance companies and Medicare Advantage plans.
While Homethrive’s aim is to facilitate aging in place, Jacobs expressed that this goes hand-in-hand with addressing the social determinants of health.
“We think that they are very interrelated,” he said. “We think that by addressing the social determinants of health, whether that’s food insecurity, isolation, loneliness, transportation or home safety, we can make it much easier for people to age at home.”
Homethrive said its Series A round comes on the heels of the COVID-19-related spotlight that has been placed on home-based care.
Jacobs believes that people overwhelmingly prefer to be cared for in their own home — a preference that has become a necessity due to the public health emergency.
“People had different choices. They could be at home or they could oftentimes go to a senior living community, Jacobs said. “Now because of COVID, people are much more reluctant to move out of their home. We have a number of members who were in senior living communities and their families have brought them back home.”
Many of the company’s clients are also people who are unable to provide in-person support to their aging family members.
“The challenge is families not being able to spend time with and do things to help their aging loved ones,” Jacobs said. “They’re not able to travel. They’re not able to go see them, … so they need help in navigating those things. Also, the incidence of depression, isolation and loneliness have gone up because those older adults are more cut off from other services and organizations that they would otherwise engage with.”
Looking ahead, Homethrive is focused on further solidifying itself in the home-based care space.
“We have spent the last two years proving the model, making sure we can deliver results and that we can really affect caregivers and older adults in a very positive way,” Jacobs said. “Now, our focus is on really accelerating that and improving the efficiency through which we provide that service.”
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