Ulu Ventures is a leading seed-stage venture fund in Silicon Valley investing in diverse entrepreneurial teams as well as Enterprise IT, EdTech, FinTech, Healthcare, and Sustainability startups.  Ulu is the first Latina-led venture fund in Silicon Valley and is one of the largest in the country with over $200M in assets under management. As well, the firm has designed its investment process to reduce risk and produce better, more consistent returns. Ulu’s process structures intuition and applies it intelligently to investments, avoiding cognitive biases common in VC; systematically identifies key drivers of risk and uncertainty, streamlining due diligence; and calculates a probability-weighted multiple(PWM) on invested capital, ensuring consistent decision-making.

Ulu Ventures

Tectonic Capital partner with outstanding entrepreneurs and invest in category defining businesses

Tectonic Capital

Pear is an early-stage venture fund founded by Pejman Nozad and Mar Hershenson. Their co-founding managers have historically seeded very early stage tech start-ups such as Doordash, Guardant Health, Gusto, Viz.ai, Dropbox, Lending Club, Vanta, Zoosk, Addepar, Path and many others. Their motto is simple: they invest in exceptional founders who are building amazing companies. They utilize every resource they have to assist their founders and entrepreneurs shape the future.

Pear VC

Bain Capital Double Impact builds great companies that deliver both competitive financial returns and meaningful, measureable social and environmental good.Impact investing has the power to build great companies that deliver both competitive financial returns and meaningful, measurable social and environmental good. Bain Capital Double Impact will pursue investments where they can utilize their unique capabilities to help mission-driven companies scale and drive meaningful change.

Bain Capital Double Impact Fund

Founded in 1988, Highland Capital Partners is a global venture capital firm focused on putting the entrepreneur first.  With offices in Silicon Valley, Boston and Shanghai, Highland has raised over $3 billion in committed capital and invested in more than 225 companies, resulting in category-defining businesses across consumer and enterprise technology.  Investments include 2U, Ask Jeeves, Bromium, Gigamon, Leap Motion, LevelUp, Lycos, MapQuest, Nebula, QD Vision, Qihoo 360, Quattro Wireless, RentJuice, Rent the Runway, Starent Networks, Sybase, Violin Memory, VistaPrint and WePay.  Highland also serves as a mentor for future entrepreneurs through Summer@Highland, a program that provides students and university-affiliated startups with the environment and resources to take their initiative to the next level.

Highland Capital Partners

QED Investors is an investment firm that supports high-growth companies and businesses. The firm typically provides a combination of both capital and capability. But common to all the firm's partnerships is a shared conviction that information plays a decisive role in the success of the company, a mutual desire for a high degree of direct engagement, and a shared enthusiasm for experimentation and learning.

QED Investors

HearstLab is an early-stage venture fund focused on women-led startups innovating across the enterprise technology, data analytics, health, fintech, transportation and media spaces. To date, HearstLab has invested in over 56 companies at the Seed and Series A stages, with four successful exits. The firm often participates as a co-investor and in follow-on rounds.  HearstLab is a venture arm of the Hearst Corporation (''Hearst'') and provides one year of services in addition to cash investments. With access to Hearst's resources across 360+ businesses, HearstLab’s breadth of services includes providing assistance with commercial deals, privacy and security, legal services, marketing support and raising capital. Portfolio companies also benefit from the strategic guidance and resource support of HearstLab Scouts, women leaders across Hearst who share their networks and expertise. HearstLab has a full-time dedicated team assisting with UI/UX, DevOps engineering, data security, data science, brand storytelling, financial modeling and business development.

HearstLab

ICONIQ Growth partners with exceptional entrepreneurs and leaders who drive global impact and change. The firm is inspired by visionaries defining the future of their industries by building company cultures that endure. ICONIQ Growth has a unique investment platform harnesses the power of ICONIQ Capital’s vibrant ecosystem of founders, pioneers, and business leaders with the goal of delivering tangible value and amplifying our portfolio companies’ success from early growth stage to IPO and beyond. ICONIQ Growth’s portfolio of innovators includes Adyen, AirBnB, Alibaba, Alteryx, Automattic, BambooHR, Braze, Chime, Collibra, Coupa, Datadog, Docusign, Gitlab, Marqeta, Miro, Procore, Red Ventures, Relativity, ServiceTitan, Snowflake, Sprinklr, Truckstop, Uber, Wolt, and Zoom, among others.

ICONIQ Growth

FreeWill

FreeWill is an online service that provides legal forms and legal information. It offers philanthropy and estate planning tools for donors and fundraisers to donate simpler and easier.

FreeWill provides a digital platform for creating and updating legal wills online, free of charge. The company claims that this process takes less than 20 minutes. The platform additionally helps users to create other estate planning documents, such as a living will, a durable financial power of attorney, beneficiary designations, and revocable living trusts (for residents of California). Additionally, FreeWill allows users to make charitable donations from their retirement or stock brokerage account or leave a legacy gift to a nonprofit of their choice in their will. The company additionally provides educational material on topics such as estate planning, the benefits of leaving a will, and information on the difference of a last will compared to a living will.

A concentration of wealth and a willingness to adopt age-in-place technologies present new opportunities.

Age Tech

FreeWill launches estate planning platform Estately for financial advisors.. FreeWill.. product 

FreeWill provides a digital platform for creating and updating legal wills online, free of charge. The company claims that this process takes less than 20 minutes. The platform additionally helps users to create other estate planning documents, such as a living will, a durable financial power of attorney, beneficiary designations, and revocable living trusts (for residents of California). Additionally, FreeWill allows users to make charitable donations from their retirement or stock brokerage account or leave a legacy gift to a nonprofit of their choice in their will. The company additionally provides educational material on topics such as estate planning, the benefits of leaving a will, and information on the difference of a last will compared to a living will.The company offers its services for free, as it is completely supported by nonprofits. FreeWill notes that one out of six users choose to leave a bequest to charity, and, as of <a href="https://www.freewill.com/">November 2023 </a>, the company claimed to have raised more than USD 8.7 billion for charities.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35201">October 2024</a>, the company acquired Grant Assistant, an AI-based platform for improving grant proposal processes, for an undisclosed sum. Through the acquisition, FreeWill began expanding its offerings and established its first international presence, with Grant Assistant's team in Washington, DC and Lahore, Pakistan joining the company.Also in <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/35396">October 2024</a>, the company launched Estately, a software platform that enables financial advisors to offer comprehensive estate planning services to their clients. The platform provides digital self-drafted and attorney-drafted estate planning documents on a unified platform, offering offers various documents, including Wills, Revocable Living Trusts with Pour-over Wills, Durable Financial Powers of Attorney, Advanced Healthcare Directives and HIPAA Authorization, and Beneficiary Designations.Key customers and partnershipsAs of <a href="https://www.freewill.com/">November 2023 </a>, the company has partnered with over 1,350 nonprofit organizations who help support the company’s activities.

Honor provides a platform for elderly persons and their families to find home care providers, and is claimed to be one of the largest on-demand home care networks in the US. The company’s key offerings include Home Care, Family Caregiver Resources, and the Honor Family App and Honor Family Care Network for remote monitoring.In August 2021, Honor announced the acquisition of home care provider Home Instead at an undisclosed value. The merged entity was expected to combine for over USD 2.1 billion home care services revenue.&nbsp; Key customers and partnershipsAs of August 2021, Home Instead had around 90,000 caregivers serving at 1,200 locations across the US and global markets. Home Instead acquired UK-based online platform SuperCarers in June 2020. It connects professional caregivers to elderly people seeking at-home care. Prior to the acquisition, SuperCarers had raised a total of GBP 4.9 million (USD 6.6 million).It also partners with the Organisation for the Review of Care and Health Applications (ORCHA) to provide quality assured apps for psychological wellbeing, physical activity, and mental stimulation.

Honor

Eargo specializes in developing hearing aid and related services. Eargo has four products in its lineup: Link by Eargo, Eargo SE, Eargo Neo HiFi, Eargo 6, and Eargo 7. The company’s products are unique due to its design meant to keep the device invisible when plugged in.The products are priced between USD 749 (Link by Eargo) and USD 2,490 (Eargo 7). The Eargo Neo HiFi comes alongside an app and offers connected smart features such as audio personalization and control. The app allows the user to control the audio to suit their surroundings, customize settings, and contact Eargo's licensed hearing professionals for consultation and support.In October 2020, Eargo was listed as a public company and then acquired by Patient Square Capital In October 2023. Via the acquisition, Patient Square Capital acquired all outstanding shares of Eargo—that were not owned by Patient Square—at USD 2.55 per share. Key customers and partnershipsThe company utilizes a business-to-consumer (B2C) online retail strategy compared to traditional business-to-business (B2B) model deployed by other manufacturers who sell their products through clinics. The strategy has proven beneficial through the Covid-19 pandemic as consumer footfall for brick-and-mortar clinics have declined.

Eargo

K4Connect provides technology solutions to residents and staff members in senior living communities through its K4Community platform. The company was co-founded by Scott Moody who sold his fingerprint sensor technology company AuthenTec to Apple for USD 356 million in 2012, which then became the basis for Touch ID.The platform's offerings include digital voice and video communication, and community updates for residents. It also provides smart home automation through the provisioning of plug and play Alexa devices for residents and supports smart thermostats, smart lights, motion sensors, and sleep tracking devices. In addition, community staff members have access to tools for resident surveys, resident and family management, and communications. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the platform also established an expanded video chat service to facilitate resident-to-resident communication, staff requests, yoga classes, and dining room bookings. Further, in March 2020, it partnered with software communications firm Bandwidth to introduce a hotline for staff and residents as a means of keeping all parties up to date with community information.The platform is built on the company’s patented operating system, FusionOS. The company claims that FusionOS is an advanced multi-modal edge-cloud architecture, the first of its kind in the senior living industry. Residents and staff can access the platform using a smartphone app or pre-provisioned tables in the living communities priced on a per-resident basis.As of July 2020, the platform served over 800 independent and assisted living senior living communities across the US. The platform serves over 29,000 users at more than 125 senior living communities across 27 customers as of February 2020, more than doubling its users from 2018, which it expects to repeat in 2020. The company has established channel partnerships with Allbridge (a data, video and voice solution provider for senior living) in July 2020, and Eskaton (a senior services provider) and White Horse Village (a continuing care retirement community) in May 2019. It collaborated with GlobalLogic (a digital product engineering company) in July 2020 to expedite the development schedule of its K4Community Plus app in response to Covid-19.

K4Connect

CarePredict was founded by Former IBM consultant and tech veteran, Satish Movva, and produces Tempo smart wearables for the elderly community. Using machine learning (ML), the company claims the app can reduce the chance of a fall, and predict urinary tract infections (UTIs) and depression ahead of a clinical diagnosis. The device aims to assist caregivers in taking preventive action by detecting activities and behaviors which are precursors to health declines. The data from the device can also be shared with family members.The company generates revenue from device sales and subscriptions. Independent research conducted in September 2020 indicated that facilities using CarePredict’s wearables reported 40% fewer hospitalizations 69%, lower fall rates, 67% increased length of stay, and a 37% improved staff response rate than facilities that did not use CarePredict.The company expanded its operations in 2018 through its acquisition of WiseWare, a company selling activity-tracking jewelry for older users. In April 2020, it launched the PinPoint contact-tracing tools to mitigate the spread of Covid-19.Key customers and partnershipsIn February 2021, the company announced its partnership with Middle Alabama Area Agency on Aging (M4A). M4A is the agency behind the “Providing Alzheimer's N' Dementia Assistance” (PANDA) project. The company will be the first tech platform to be part of the project and will provide caregivers assistance in remote monitoring and preventive care using its smart wearables.

CarePredict

Eversound develops wireless headphone systems to enhance the level of engagement and social interaction for the elderly living in assisted living or memory care centres. The platform provides a library of programmed content on a variety of topics. The headphone system can be used to communicate with caregivers, during group events, family visits, and for music therapy. The headphones are equipped with a wireless transmitter and volume controls. It connects to external audio sources such as community A/V systems, televisions, and audio devices.The product was unveiled in May 2016. In a subsequent six month study conducted by LCB Senior Living community, group events leveraging the Eversound system resulted in an 18% reduction of residents falling asleep and a 28% increase in engagement during group events. In December 2016, the company expanded to 18 states across the US.In March 2020, as a part of its Covid-19 response, the company launched a live streamed, interactive content service to help seniors combat isolation. Further, as in-person visits at assisted living communities were interrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the use of Eversound’s visitation package proved to be crucial for socially distanced in-person visits. Key customers and partnershipsAs of December 2020, the company’s product is being used in more than 700 senior living communities across the US. Its clients include senior living communities such as Brightview, Commonwealth, and Oakmont. In addition, Eversound has established partnerships with senior living communities (such as The Arbor Company, Bridges by EPOCH, Christian Horizons, and Kisco) to roll out its devices for family visitations, and programmable and live streamed content.

Eversound

Tech-enabled equipment or companionship services that help elderly people function independently.

Platforms that match seniors with home care providers as well as app-based products to facilitate communication between senior families and caregivers

Tech-enabled products used to diagnose, prevent, and treat conditions common among seniors.

Remote monitoring, medical diagnosis, communication, and coordination between caregivers and families of the elderly.

Platforms that help seniors interact socially and communicate with others.

Platforms that help seniors and their families plan and make arrangements to settle the senior’s estates and affairs in the event of death.

Companies that use GenAI as a core part of their product offering for Age Tech

Offers digital platforms that support the wellness of the senior population

Age Tech providers incorporate GenAI to enhance both seniors’ and caregivers’ experiences

Many devices that help seniors operate independently and receive remote treatment use IoT

Some companies use VR to help treat seniors with conditions such as isolation and dementia

ANALYST_QUICK_TAKE

PROMINENT_CATEGORY

<div>

 FreeWill, a company focused on estate planning and philanthropy, has introduced a new software platform called Estately. This platform allows financial advisors to provide their clients with extensive estate planning services. It's accessible in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.

 The platform Estately allows the creation of both self-drafted and attorney-drafted estate planning documents in a single place. Users can draft a variety of documents including Wills, Revocable Living Trusts with Pour-over Wills, Durable Financial Powers of Attorney, Advanced Healthcare Directives and HIPAA Authorization, and Beneficiary Designations using this platform.
 FreeWill points out that Estately is designed to streamline client workflows, make it simpler for users to complete and update their estate plans, align financial planning decisions with estate planning, and cater to mobile clients by offering nationwide attorney coverage. Following an 18-month collaboration with Mercer Advisors, FreeWill developed the platform and added it to the services of over 60 firms during its beta testing phase.
 
</div> Analyst QuickTake: 
 <a href="https: 
//sp-edge.com/updates/35201"> Freewill acquired Grant Assistant </a> for an undisclosed sum earlier this month . Freewill acquired this to expand its offerings and establish its first international presence. Through the launch of the Estately platform, the company appears to be taking additional steps to expand its offerings further.

FreeWill

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless