There's cash in caring
Tech start-up HomeTouch has raised £500,000 to help connect people with carers.
It’s probably not the first sector that springs to mind when you think about disruptive start-ups but as the population gets older there’s plenty of opportunities for entrepreneurs in social care. One such entrepreneur is Dr Jamie Wilson, a former NHS doctor who founded HomeTouch to make it easier for those in need to find a carer.
Today Wilson’s company announced it has just bagged an investment from Passion Capital, the London venture capital firm whose partners include Tech City chair Eileen Burbidge. The terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed, but it takes the total funding raised by HomeTouch to £500,000. That might not be a lot compared to Uber’s multi-billion dollar war chest, but it’s a welcome injection of cash for a care sector start-up founded less than a year ago.
HomeTouch vets carers with a face-to-face interview and criminal record check before listing them on its website. Those in need of a carer can search for one based on their needs – including languages, skills (from cleaning to using a ventilator) and experience with particular medical conditions.
