Health tech platform keeping the elderly safer at home bags $2 million

An eight-year-old health tech startup helping elderly people live safely at home has scored $2 million in funding, led by Breakthrough Victoria.

Umps Health is developing sensors and AI for proactive aged care at home.

Breakthrough Victoria invested alongside Intervalley Ventures, with follow-on funding from existing investors Sprint Ventures, the Cerebral Palsy Alliance, the 5Point Foundation and Agnes Health.

Umps – named after founder Adam Jahnke’s nickname for his grandfather – has developed smart home platform, with a personal alarm pendant and base hub, Umps Link, released last year and now used in 1000s of homes.

It uses data collected from proprietary wearables, sensors and AI to generate real-time insights about declines in health and wellbeing. Umps Link also connects users directly to a 24/7 emergency response centre or family.

Designed in collaboration with Victoria’s largest aged care providers, Umps products are available under the Home Care Package Program, Commonwealth Home Support Program and NDIS. They’re sold on a monthly subscription.

Breakthrough Victoria acting CEO, Lauren Morrey said they invested in Umps to accelerate ongoing research, development and commercialisation of the technology, creating up to 40 jobs over the next two years.

“The health benefits that Umps’ innovative technology generates are multifold – across families, society, the aged care sector and to the wider economy,” she said.

“Every person gets another option at ageing with dignity; this is why Breakthrough Victoria is investing in Umps Health.”

Jahnke, who cofounded Umps Health in 2016 with Geoff Ayre, and joined the Melbourne Accelerator Program the following year, is CEO and set out to create solutions that would ensure his grandfather could live in his home of 60 years safety. Their initial idea of monitoring actions around the home have morphed into monitoring the health of the residents.

““We’re pleased to welcome both Breakthrough Victoria and InterValley Ventures as shareholders of Umps.  The capital raised will allow us to accelerate our market reach within Australia and scale Umps’ technology to support tens of thousands of Australians,” he said.

“Our team is driven by one goal: enabling more proactive care at home. Our underpinning belief is that enabling more timely, person-centred care at home is the biggest opportunity we have to reduce demand on an already stretched care system and enable better health outcomes for older adults,”

Jahnke said there are more than 500,000 hospitalisations annually that could have been prevented if older adults received care earlier.

“These health incidents are often a catalyst for a loss of independence. AI has the potential to address this by enabling proactive care at scaling, alleviating pressure on an already stretched system while improving the health and wellbeing of older adults,” he said.