A multiplex of UK startups in various industries continues to make our lives more convenient. Another startup paving the way for breakthroughs and new methods is Elder, founded with the aim to inspire a positive change in the UK’s care sector through their Live-in Care service.    

Company name: Elder

Founder: Pete Dowds

Headquarters: London

Launched: December 2015

Q: In simple terms, what does your startup do?

Pete: Elder is the alternative to the care home. As an introductory agency, the company matches families with professional, vetted, live-in carers in over 300 towns and cities nationwide and in as little as 48 hours.

As Elder’s carers move into a spare room in the care recipient’s home, they provide full-time care and peace of mind for the family, where the family knows their loved one is their happiest.

Q: What problem/s do you seek to solve or help?

Pete: Studies show 97% of people don’t want to go to a care home. Our mission is to replace residential care for the majority of people in the UK. Many in our team have had their own personal experiences of the challenges in the care sector and the lack of any alternative for the majority of people that want to keep their loved ones in their own home. This unique understanding of the challenges families experience is the driving force behind Elder’s passion to be a positive force for change.

Q: Are you funded and how?

Pete: VC-backed, Elder has secured investments from MMC Ventures and Hummingbird Ventures. We raised our Series A round in 2017.

Q: What were you doing before you started Elder?

Pete: I founded Mopp along with its co-founder Tom in our kitchen in late 2012. Together we grew from one customer to a team of 50 with an office in East London, serving 50,000 customers with a $10 million turnover in a 19-month period. It went on to become Europe’s biggest home services platform, which was acquired by Handy in a multi-million-pound acquisition in 2014.

Q: What inspired you to start Elder?

Pete: Initially, I became aware of the need within the care sector after my family and I went through a very difficult experience trying to organise care for my grandmother in her own home, without the need to move her to a care home. From this experience, I saw an opportunity to bring together a world-class team to tackle one of society’s biggest problems.

Q: What are your goals over the next 5 years? Where do see yourself and Elder?

Pete: Over the next five years, I see Elder making huge strides toward replacing institutional care in the UK, as well pushing further toward our overall mission of improving what it means to age, by building a platform that delivers Elder Life Assistance across the UK and beyond.

As for myself, I very much see myself being here, helping to make this happen. I started this business to make a fundamental positive difference in the care sector. This is not something that happens overnight, and I intend to see it through.

Images courtesy of Elder. To learn more, visit the Elder website.

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