附近上门

Eldercare marketplace has raised $5.4 million in a Series A round led by . Other participants in the round include and .

Follow 附近上门 News on

Kindly Care鈥檚 platform connects care givers to those who are searching for help with a loved one. Through its online platform, on which more than 120,000 caregivers are currently registered, families can choose and interview professionals before meeting in person.

鈥淚n the same way that Care.com is potentially a better version of Craigslist, we like to think of ourselves as the better version and better alternative to Care.com,鈥� Founder and CEO of Kindly Care Igor Lebovic told 附近上门 News in an interview.

Kindly Care vets the professionals on its platform with pre-screenings and background checks.

鈥淵ou have to have worked in [the caregiving] field before, and if you have worked in this field before you have to be able to show proof of employment and training,鈥� Lebovic explained.

After completing a background check, caregivers are required to take an aptitude test which assesses their experience and knowledge in specific aspects of the caregiving profession. While Kindly Care doesn鈥檛 reject individuals from joining the platform, it does rate individuals based on the information provided, their background checks, and their aptitude tests. The final decision is left with the families that have interviewed and selected a caregiver.

Lebovic specified that Kindly Care is not, however, a home care agency, which is more hands-on and in control of the vetting, selection, and employment of caregiver.

鈥淲hen you work with a marketplace in-home care, it鈥檚 very much a self-serve system,鈥� Lebovic said, adding that with marketplaces like Kindly Care, the interview, final selection, and wage negotiation responsibilities lie with the families employing the caregiver. However, once the selection process takes place, Kindly Care provides a second line of service with its account management platform.

鈥淭here are so many labor regulations to keep in mind,鈥� Lebovic explained. 鈥淢eal times, sleep times, overtime hours, tracking the clock-in and clock-out processes, tax withholding; I could talk forever.鈥�

To mitigate this pain point the company outsources the management work to a partner organization which makes sure that the families, officially considered W2 employers, are compliant with all labor and tax laws. The company charges a 20 to 25 percent service fee on top of the hourly wage paid to each caregiver.

Kindly Care currently operates in California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida. Lebovic said that the company is planning to go nationwide and is pre-screening potential caregivers in other states. The company currently has 12 employees and will also use its fresh capital to add more talent to its team.