Home Care Support Firm Goes Nuclear

The Helper Bees — a company that uses technology and support services to keep older people in their homes as long as possible — recently raised $12.8 million in funding.

The Helper Bees gets some of its revenue from long-term care insurers, and some from Medicare plans.

Investors see trying to provide relatively new types of services through Medicare as tricky.

The biggest contributor to the current round of funding, Trust Ventures, is a firm that focuses on investing in startups that face complicated regulatory requirements. Another company in the Trust Ventures portfolio is Oklo. Oklo makes small nuclear reactors.

Char Hu, Eric Corum and Danny Lynch founded The Helper Bees in 2015. The Austin, Texas-based company has created a home elder care support network made up for providers that can meet Medicare home care provider standards.

The Helper Bees now markets its home care support provider network to employers and other types of organizations as well as to public and private insurers. The company has not released revenue figures, but it says revenue is now about three times higher than it was a year ago.

The company says it will use the new funding to expand the home care provider network and network delivery area.

In addition to Trust Ventures, the list of contributors to The Helper Bees’ new round of funding includes Northwestern Mutual Future Ventures.

In 2020, The Helper Bees raised $6 million from Techstars, Silverton Partners and Austin Impact Capital.

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