A tech startup goals to disrupt the pay-per-lead aggregator house with the launch of a digital platform to assist prospects navigate senior residing choices and supply extra certified results in operators.
Olera, which in 2024 obtained funding from the Nationwide Institutes of Well being (NIH), not too long ago launched the “beta program” of the corporate’s software program and smartphone utility platform. The supporting NIH grant funding is geared towards serving to households determine senior care companies and handle affordability considerations, in line with Olera CEO TJ Falohun.
By way of a subscription mannequin, senior residing suppliers can acquire entry to profiles of prospects and their households, whereas households and older adults looking for senior residing companies can determine care choices and potential advantages — from Medicare to PACE companies — they will not be conscious of or presently use.
“Certainly one of our first realizations within the course of was that gate preserving the connections primarily based on paid networks is in direct contradiction to open platform connection and our purpose to attach as many individuals as attainable to seek out the senior care sources they want,” Falohun mentioned.
In 2026, Olera is making ready to launch a caregiver pilot program with 25 households of older adults to refine the prevailing platform and obtain suggestions on how the platform capabilities in prospects accessing senior residing choices and connecting suppliers to prospects.
“I believe one of many greatest issues is that pre-screening that lead aggregators do is simply merely not sturdy sufficient,” Falohun mentioned. “So if we are able to create a system that filters out the people who find themselves not prepared to purchase but, that’s a method that we are able to improve lead worth.”
The corporate will convey a number of variations of the corporate’s utility to bear this 12 months to adapt quickly to suggestions from prospects and suppliers after the pilot is accomplished, Falohun and Co-Founder Logan DuBose, MD, informed Senior Housing Information.
By bringing extra certified results in operators, Falohun and DuBose see a chance to alter the panorama of senior residing lead technology, one that’s typically “crowded” with unqualified or inactive prospects, resulting in gross sales group burnout from operators.
The platform makes use of AI to construct a “full image” of a senior residing prospect’s profile earlier than discovering custom-made sources and senior residing choices of their native space, Falohun mentioned, with AI-supported options helping with “mundane duties” whereas a prospect seeks out senior residing companies.
“We expect that this will get the dialog going when it comes to serving to individuals perceive the advantages that might doubtlessly cut back the care prices, and even when we don’t have all of the solutions, we’re going to attach individuals to suppliers who’ve the reply,” Falohun mentioned.
Olera’s entrance into the senior residing referrals panorama comes amid a altering time for senior residing aggregators, with corporations like A Place For Mother (APFM) pivoting towards AI and reply engine optimization (AEO). Earlier this month, Caring.com acquired SilverAssist in a play to broaden service choices and shift towards an “operator-first” lead and referral mannequin.
The duo additionally see a chance to attach suppliers with care staff, with the prospect of constructing a “hiring market” throughout the platform on the horizon, DuBose mentioned. That comes after having success with a pilot program that positioned 40 Texas A&M College college students with seven senior residing operators for careers in senior care after having 800 candidates apply, DuBose mentioned.
“We wish to scale that and we wish to work with different universities to scale this side of the platform,” DuBose mentioned.
Within the 12 months forward, Falohun and DuBose mentioned Olera is concentrated on “velocity of product innovation,” that means the power to launch a number of updates to the platform and help usability for suppliers and prospects. A bigger pilot program of 200 people is scheduled “in the direction of the tip” of this 12 months.
