A gaggle of senior dwelling and healthcare stakeholders together with Solera Senior Residing CEO Adam Kaplan have spun up a brand new funding fund meant to assist develop modern tech for operators.
Enterprise capital agency Equitage Ventures this week introduced the ultimate shut of a brand new $47.3 million fund, its first ever. The corporate’s goal with the fund is to be “greater than capital” by serving to to advise and form the senior and healthcare tech corporations and entrepreneurs it plans to spend money on. Initially the fund will goal smaller, tech corporations during which to speculate and develop the place Equitage believes it could actually add essentially the most worth.
Equitage is led by an funding crew that features Adam Kaplan together with Russell Hirsch, a co-founder of Generator Ventures; and Daniel Kaplan, an investor who additionally labored with Generator Ventures.
“We get up each morning keen about reworking senior care … via this broad-based, digital well being method, investing in know-how and technology-enabled providers,” Hirsch informed Senior Housing Information.
The fund is exclusive in that it consists of backing from a bunch of restricted companions throughout the continuum of care. Although Equitage declined to call particular LPs, Daniel Kaplan stated the listing consists of leaders of a minimum of three outstanding U.S. senior dwelling and expert nursing operators, dwelling care and residential well being businesses, hospices, a publicly traded healthcare know-how firm, a publicly traded healthcare actual property funding belief (REIT) and a multi-billion-dollar Japanese conglomerate.
Equitage is also taking steering from a bunch of advisors that features Formation Capital and Senior Residing Transformation Firm Founder Arnie Whitman together with Nomi Well being govt Sara Ratner, Sondermind President Jennifer Meyer and former e4health CEO Matthew Zubiller
The fund comes at a time when senior dwelling and different well being care-adjacent corporations are awash in a sea of probably helpful know-how. However with so many corporations to select from, selecting the best associate is fraught with danger.
Waiting for the remainder of 2025, Equitage’s leaders see a “wholesome pipeline” of corporations to spend money on.
Separating wheat from chaff in tech
With its new fund, Equitage is looking for to seek out corporations that may make an affect in senior dwelling and different associated industries. That may be a troublesome job for senior dwelling operators, who’ve myriad corporations and merchandise to select from when implementing new know-how.
Equitage’s largest power lies within the expertise of its funding crew, advisors and LPs. Adam Kaplan has spent a few years weighing and implementing new tech in his position at Solera Senior Residing, together with for the sort of value-based care fashions he thinks will assist lead the business into the longer term. Moreover, Hirsch has a 34-year enterprise capital profession in biotechnology and medical units and eight years of senior care-related investments, whereas Daniel Kaplan labored at ClearCare and has invested within the business although Generator Ventures. The crew’s choose investments embrace Apploi, IntelyCare, Submit Acute Analytics, VyncaCare and Third Eye Well being.
The agency will use the expertise of its advisors and LPs to its benefit, in accordance with Daniel Kaplan. Because the agency evaluates funding alternatives, it’ll accomplish that “with the voice of the shopper being the voice in our ear,” he stated. In different phrases, the corporate will spend money on tech with the eyes of a senior dwelling or well being care operator.
Adam Kaplan added that via its investments, Equitage will assist corporations in senior housing and care make higher sense of a “very noisy panorama” for senior dwelling know-how.
“You’re continually getting chilly calls from entrepreneurs or enterprise improvement personnel which can be telling you that their product is the perfect, it’s going to resolve all of your issues,” he stated. “And it’s simply very troublesome for many of senior dwelling, whether or not it’s an working firm or an funding firm, to navigate via that.”
Senior dwelling operations are additionally getting extra demanding, and Adam Kaplan stated it’s “now not adequate” to easily stabilize occupancy, they have to additionally enhance outcomes. As such, he sees a “actual want” for corporations to “efficiently establish which [tech] entrepreneurs are constructing viable corporations, to counsel them and to supply sound governance to them, to scale these corporations efficiently.”
“You want course of enhancements, you want staffing efficiencies, you want care income seize, and also you want new income streams,” he stated. “And also you’re not going to have the ability to obtain that until you’ve gotten capital flowing to again good, gifted entrepreneurs and to construction the fitting council across the desk once more to assist them scale efficiently.”
Whereas Equitage hasn’t but introduced any new investments for its fund, early funding themes would possibly embrace documentation automation corporations in each dwelling well being and expert nursing, passive monitoring applied sciences, oral healthcare supply, care administration and navigation providers, compliance assist for senior dwelling and expert nursing, behavioral well being and dementia and household caregiving.
Wanting forward, over the subsequent a number of years, the fund is specializing in investing its current {dollars} earlier than working to boost a successor fund.
“We began one thing, and we’re not completed,” Daniel stated. “We’re actually on the beginning line now.”
Fund arrives as senior dwelling tech takes off
In 2025, the senior dwelling business is present process a tech transformation fueled by the necessity to develop and evolve for a brand new group of shoppers, the newborn boomers. Some corporations are constructing value-based care fashions and utilizing AI-powered processes to gather the info to energy these applications, for instance.
Corporations with providers that use cost sources like Medicare Benefit, which not too long ago had its capitation charges elevated to five.06% from 2.23%, are rising in 2025, making this an opportune time for Equitage’s fund, Daniel Kaplan stated. The Facilities for Medicaid and Medicare Providers (CMS) additionally has set a aim that each one Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries can be in an accountable care group by 2030. However coordinating that care and gathering well being knowledge would require extra tech sophistication.
“I believe that buying older adults and their households via digital channels for extra digital first merchandise, whether or not it’s apps, providers or software program, goes to be a way more investable and actual development as we get nearer to 2030 and past,” he stated. “We’d wish to see some extra merchandise added there too.”
Equitage is looking out for corporations which have a variety of providers for residents and their group operators, equivalent to merchandise that assist monetary know-how for older adults, promote long-term insurance coverage in a brand new method or create a brand new social media platform for older adults.
“The system is maturing to have the ability to successfully spend money on alternatives on this house, and that’s the nice factor,” Hirsch stated. “We wish to be companions with entrepreneurs, LPs and with different funds which have curiosity on this house.”
Due to the dimensions of the fund and the experience of buyers in it, there’s “at all times going to be room for us on the desk,” in accordance with Hirsch.
