CareZapp is European startup launched in beta from the floor of TechCrunch‘s Disrupt Europe event. The company is looking to make providing home care for a sick or elderly family member easier to manage.
As the population ages, insurance companies, by necessity, are going to be pushing for more home healthcare.According to co-founder and CEO Andrew Macfarlane, as the population ages, insurance companies in the United States and state healthcare organizations in Europe are, by necessity, are going to be pushing for more home healthcare.
In order to make for an effective service, Macfarlane argues three things are needed — community, environment and technology — and CareZapp is looking to address all of them.
First, there’s a private social network for caregivers and professionals who can use it to communicate and collaborate by creating groups for private discussion. The service also allows different groups to communicate with each other to, for instance, allow family members to communicate internally and then share messages with their local physician.
The second piece is a framework for applications that can assist with home care. For example, one app might tap into (third-party) motion detectors to alert relatives and doctors if something potentially dangerous happens.
CareZapp will make money by selling apps, and by charging service providers to be listed in the discovery network.Finally, there’s a “discovery network” from where family members will be able to find local service providers.
CareZapp’s strategy isn’t to target end-users but health care and service providers, initially in Ireland and the United States. In fact, the company has already scored the first partner, Irish homecare company myhomecare.ie.
The basic communication tools will be free with CareZapp making money by selling apps, and by charging service providers to be listed in the discovery network.
With CareZapp, “you’re empowering your own care networks,” Macfarlane said. “We’re facilitating access to a lot of the things that are out there already, but they need to be connected. [We want to answer the question,] ‘How do we connect that village that will care for Mom and Dad?'”