附近上门

Caregivers to elderly and disabled loved ones often find themselves in that role for the first time and with little experience. Carewell is hoping to change that.

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The Charlotte, North Carolina-based startup closed on more than $5 million in seed funding to provide advocacy and expand its e-commerce site for home health products.

Investors for the round included , and , as well as a group of entrepreneurs and advisers including 鈥檚 former VP of growth marketing, and 蹿辞耻苍诲别谤蝉听 and .

As part of the investment, e.ventures Founding Partner will join Carewell鈥檚 board of directors, while NextView Partner will act as board observer.

CEO and her husband, , started the company five years ago when they became among the 53 million providing unpaid care and were unable to find the guidance and selection they needed in one place.

鈥淲e wanted to have a service where we provide support and education to families like us that are caring for their loved ones,鈥� Padilla said in an interview.

Carewell will use the new funding to provide more education and awareness about the caregiver role and focus on expanding its product offerings. After closing the round earlier this year, the company added to its leadership team in key roles including marketing, communications, merchandising and engineering.

Its online shopping platform features vetted product recommendations and guidance on product offerings. Carewell鈥檚 site offers products on both a one-time basis and through a subscription service to caregivers who need certain products regularly.

鈥淭here are unique challenges that caregivers face, so we want them to have a full suite of products for their needs,鈥� Padilla said. 鈥淵ou can find lots of information for caring for pets or your own children, but we lack so many resources that are actionable for caring for seniors or those who are disabled. We want to be advocates for those caregivers.鈥�

As the COVID-19 pandemic shifted most to in-home care, within the first month of the pandemic, Carewell鈥檚 revenue doubled and nearly 40,000 unique customers have made purchases since February, Padilla said.

Next up, the company will be looking at new categories of product offerings.

鈥淵ou have to bring in a good selection because so many caregivers and their loved ones have unique needs,鈥� Padilla said. 鈥淲e are also making sure we document everything and provide it as an online resource.鈥�

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