The baby boomer generation is contributing to the growing population of elderly citizens in America. If fact, there are over 46 million adults in the U.S. over the age of 65 and that population is expected to grow to nearly 90 million by 2050.
Elderly care facilities are a common option for people to move into as they age but the technology that keeps those facilities afloat isn’t always the most up-to-date. This, according to co-founder and CEO of Sage Raj Mehra, complicates the ability for elders to receive proper care in emergency situations.
Sage’s technology works as an operational product at elderly care facilities and can replace nurse call systems to help residents receive care faster. It also helps keep a record of what emergencies are called in and by whom, which in turn can be proactive data in understanding if these situations are one-off moments or if they are red flags that show one’s health conditions may be worsening.
On Thursday, Sage pulled in $9 million in a funding round led by Goldcrest Capital with participation from ANIMO Ventures, Distributed Ventures and Merus Capital. With its new funding, Sage plans to expand its platform offerings and focus on hiring for its engineering, product management and data scientists and analysts teams.
Sage’s technology currently reaches roughly 20,000 residents living in elderly care facilities across the U.S. with a bulk of facilities in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas. According to a company statement, Sage partners have been able to reduce emergency response times by an average of 70 percent.
“I saw firsthand the challenges that my grandmother had in retaining her independence as she aged,” Mehra said in a statement. “At the same time, her caregivers had limited tools to support their efforts and it wasn’t sustainable. Each and every day, we hear stories about how our technology is improving lives. I am proud of our team who is committed to giving the industry best-in-class software to keep older adults safer and give caregivers leverage in their day-to-day care.”
