Google Assistant Investment Program Invests in Aiva Health
Aiva Health, a Los Angeles-based startup looking to provide a hands-free operating system for health care organizations, has secured investment from the Google Assistant Investment Program. The investment amount was not disclosed.
Founded in 2016, Aiva Health uses Google Home, Amazon Echo and other “smart speakers” to better connect patients, particularly older adults, to caregivers. By leveraging the capabilities of voice commands, the platform is meant to free up clinicians to deliver faster and more personal care.
The Google Assistant Investment Program works with early-stage companies in the voice assistant space. In addition to Aiva Health, its investment portfolio includes Go Moment, which created an AI-powered travel chatbot, and Maison Me, which sells AI-designed, made-to-order clothing.
Aiva Health plans to use the investment to accelerate platform development and deployment.
The startup’s other investors include Act One Ventures, Mucker Capital, Techstars and the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator Powered by Techstars. Aiva Health has also reportedly received investment funds from Amazon’s Alex Fund.
Health care executives widely see Amazon (Nasdaq: AMZN) as the biggest disrupter for the industry, followed by other tech giants such as Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL) and Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).
Aiva Health is specifically eyeing the home as part of its business model.
Mon Ami Launches New Companionship Model
A new startup aimed at combatting senior isolation in the San Fransisco Bay Area has launched, adding competition to a niche market.
Mon Ami is an online marketplace that connects seniors with college students for non-medical companionship visits for $25 an hour. The startup is focused on preventing unhealthy social isolation.
“Family members are desperate to address the social and emotional needs of their loved ones, but the market to date has offered solutions purely focused on caregiving and the logistics of daily living,” Mon Ami Co-Founder Joy Zhang said in a statement. “Mon Ami answers that need by using technology to end this social isolation and match our companions with families desiring help.”
Maverick Ventures and Felicis Ventures are among Mon Ami’s early investors.
In launching, Mon Ami becomes a potential competitor of Papa, a Miami-based “grandkids on-demand” startup that provides similar services. Papa recently announced raising $2.4 million during a series B round.
Zhang previously worked for the World Health Organization’s Innovation for Aging team.
CarePredict to Use Lacuna Health’s Call Center Solutions
CarePredict, a leading AI-driven digital health company dually based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and Menlo Park, California, has selected Lacuna Health, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Kindred Healthcare, as part of an AI-powered wellness platform collaboration.
CarePredict develops remote-sensing technologies, including wearables, that help trigger care for seniors aging in group living facilities or at home. In doing so, the company is able to help identify signs of depression, urinary tract infections and increased fall risk, among other outcomes or conditions.
Based in Louisville, Kentucky, Lacuna Health is a care management platform that offers its services to clients on a white-label basis. Its main solution is a nurse hotline service, which provides nurse-led support to patients and caregivers throughout the country.
CarePredict will have access to Lacuna Health’s clinical staff, trained by registered nurses, to offer care-management-enabled predictive health technology products designed at engaging and supporting seniors and their caregivers.
Written by Robert Holly
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