SuperCarers, an online care platform, has raised £3.8m in an investment round led by Mobeus Equity Partners.
Existing investors and Seneca Partners also participated in the latest funding round, which will help the business grow. Over the next two years, SuperCarers aims to facilitate more than 100,000 hours of care per month across the UK.
UK-founded SuperCarers matches carers with the individuals who need them. Families or organisations can search through the platform’s database of vetted carers, and choose one based on area, personality and requirements.
According to figures by Age UK, there has been a £160m cut in total spending on older people’s social care since 2010/11.
Worryingly, the figures also show that nearly 1.2 million older people don’t receive the help they need with essential activities, and by 2025 there will be a deficit of 600,000 carers in spite of increasing demand.
SuperCarers hopes to change this by making personalised matches, which they say helps make care more consistent and build necessary relationships. Matches are made based on personality and interest, as well as care need, location and timing. The platform can also be used to book shifts and pay invoices.
In this way, there’s no need for an agency middle-man. The company claim this makes care cheaper for customers and more profitable for carers.
Carers receive 80% of what the customer pays for live-in care, whereas traditional agencies typically pay carers less than 40%, according to SuperCarers’ calculations.
The company was founded by brothers Adam and Daniel Pike, after their saw how their mother struggled to find high-quality care options for their grandmother.
Adam Pike, CEO, spoke about the UK’s care system: “Carers are trusted to look after the most vulnerable members of our society, but they are demotivated, poorly paid and as a consequence have limited incentive to deliver the best possible care. In turn, those requiring care often receive an overpriced, poor quality service that doesn’t suit their needs, and they have little to no control over the process.
“SuperCarers solves both issues. We believe that by empowering and connecting people in the same community, care can become more personal, reliable and consistent. It is our mission to make finding, monitoring and paying for care easier and giving families the tools they need to find the right match for their loved ones,” he added.
The company is backed by the founders of Innocent Smoothies via its JamJar Investment Fund; and Sir Tom Hughes-Hallett, the former CEO of Marie Curie, now the chairman of Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.
This is the company’s third funding round, following their £1.1m equity crowdfunding in 2016.
Check out our UK tech investment tracker for the latest industry deals.