This week aging in place technology vendor Independa announced that it had topped up its most recent round of funding to $2.35 million. Independa announced $1.6 million in funding last September and since then it has added about $750,000 in additional funds from new and existing investors, including Miramar Venture Partners and City Hill Ventures.
Independa said it is already in discussions with venture capital firms and strategic investors for its next round of funding.
Independa's flagship offering is Angela, a tablet-based application that helps manage the lives and care of elderly patients who choose to stay in their homes rather than move to assisted living or nursing homes. According to Independa, Angela is a “social interaction solution tailor-made for the non-technical elderly.” The software features one-touch shortcuts to video chats, email, the Internet, Facebook, games and puzzles, and other interactive content. The interface offers large screen fonts, higher contrast and bright colors for those with poor eyesight. Angela can also remind users to take medications; keep medical and personal appointments; and remember birthdays and anniversaries.
At the beginning of this year at CES, Independa inked a deal with LG to bring its services to some Zenith televisions at certain senior housing facilities. The company also showed off an iPad-based version of Angela at CES. Previously, the company favored larger screened tablets that run Windows 7.
More recently Independa announced a deal with LivHOME, a national service provider of at-home care services for seniors, to create a combined serviced called LivIndependa.
"Independa has worked closely with us to apply its technology to meet our specific needs for a system that will enable us to quickly, easily expand the scope and depth of care we provide," LivHOME CEO Mike Nicholson said in a statement. "The seniors we serve, as well as their caregivers, will enjoy a multitude of benefits from the unobtrusive monitoring and other interconnected health, safety and social engagement services we will be adding under the LivIndependa umbrella."
For more on the funding news, read the press release below:
SAN DIEGO – April 25, 2012 – Telehealth innovator Independa™ announced today that it has closed its convertible note funding at $2.35 million, with investment that surpassed the target of $2.2 million indicating strong affirmation of the company’s strategy to offer integrated technology solutions that enhance independence for older adults.
The additional $750,000 in backing disclosed today comes on top of $1.6 million in seed-round venture capital funding Independa announced last September. The company is now engaged in discussions with venture capital firms and strategic investors on a round of equity-based venture capital.
CEO Kian Saneii said the company will use the funds to expand sales, support and engineering operations, as well as marketing efforts aimed at broadening its customer base. Independa is one of 22 companies that are being nurtured in the San Diego-based business incubator, EvoNexus™.
Independa enables elderly care recipients to live in their current residences longer, safer and more comfortably – reducing costs, complexity and anguish while improving the lives of the care recipients and their caregivers alike. “The fact that we attracted funding that exceeded our goal further validates the growing acceptance of Independa solutions,” Saneii said.
Saneii pointed to the recent agreement with LivHOME Inc. to offer Independa’s Integrated CloudCare services that incorporate social engagement and remote monitoring for health and safety. This is in addition to Independa’s strategic relationship with LG Electronics to deploy Independa’s Angela™ application through LG commercial TV sets available to residents of independent living and assisted living facilities. Angela offers a suite of video calling, messaging, notifications, reminders and other services that enable elderly users to keep in touch with professional and family caregivers.
“These are exciting times for Independa. In addition to our announced partnerships with LivHOME and LG, and continually adding solutions to our highly integrated offerings, we are pursuing other opportunities for growth,” Saneii said. “It’s both rewarding and humbling to be recognized as the poster child for success in technology-enabled independent living. We’re thrilled to be a part of this expanding connected health market beginning to take off in the United States and globally.”
The latest investment comes from new and previous funders. Southern California venture capital firms Miramar Venture Partners and City Hill Ventures™, which participated in the earlier seed round, increased their investment positions. In addition to the $2.35 million raised to date, Independa announced in September that it had received $200,000 in debt financing from Silicon Valley Bank (NASDAQ: SIVB).
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About Independa, Inc.
Independa offers integrated technology-enabled independent-living solutions for the elderly. Independa’s best-of-breed Integrated CloudCare services enable organizations and individuals to cost-effectively help the elderly to remain independent longer, safer and more comfortably. The company, which has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, provides holistic solutions that seamlessly operate across otherwise not connected devices, such as telephones, tablets, touchscreen computers and TVs. Services include medication and appointment reminders, support for activities of daily living, comprehensive social engagement benefits, and wireless health and safety monitoring.
