Austin-based insurtech startup The Helper Bees announced Tuesday that it has raised $12.8 million for its platform that helps seniors remain in their homes instead of moving into an assisted living facility — an idea that, according to AARP study, appeals to 90 percent of aging Americans.
The Helper Bees allows seniors to age in place by matching them with non-medical home care providers known as “helpers.” The company’s technology also streamlines the insurance claims process for these services, which claims to save costs for insurance companies that provide long-term care insurance.
The Helper Bees recently entered the Medicare Advantage market by acquiring healthAlign, which administers Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits, in May 2021.
To help seniors manage the responsibilities of a homeowner, The Helper Bees recently created its Aging-in-Place Marketplace, an e-commerce platform featuring thousands of companies that can help seniors with pest control, home modification and other services.
Every vendor in the marketplace has been vetted using healthAlign’s compliance technology, which ensures every vendor follows federal, state and local regulations.
Char Hu, the company’s co-founder and CEO, said in a statement that having all of these services on the same platform will provide insurance companies with standardized data and insights about long-term care.
“This means that The Helper Bees is in a position to understand aging-in-place in America better than any other provider,” Hu said. “We have started to use this aggregated data around utilization and efficacy to inform future targeted interventions to empower aging in place.”
The Helper Bees employs 121 full-time workers and 93 part-time nurse assessors. The company plans to hire about 30 more employees this year.
The Helper Bees raised a $6 million Series A round in July 2020. In the past year, the company has seen an eightfold increase in employee headcount as its revenue has tripled.
The Helper Bees said it will use the Series B funds to expand its Aging-in-Place Marketplace services to reach a wider variety of aging Americans.
The company said it has seen interest beyond insurance carriers. Employers, for example, have shown interest in providing employees with access to services that help them care for an aging relative.
The Series B round was led by Trust Ventures, with additional support from Silverton Partners, Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures, Impact Engine, and Congress Avenue Ventures.
