Care2Talk raises $1M to expand video tech app into telehealth space

Care2Talk Health Technologies, a Victoria-based video tech app, announced that it’s secured just over $1 million in funding from Mavan Capital, E-Fund, WUTIF, Sprout., Cindicates, retail investors through the Frontfundr platform, and other local angels.

Officially incorporated in 2020, Care2Talk makes it easy for older adults to connect through conversations with their families and care providers. Its product is an iOS and Android application which uses a specially designed interface on mobile or tablet devices to create an easy-to-use video chat tool for those with cognitive impairments or other limitations.

To use Care2Talk, customers must purchase a special Lenovo tablet device for $199. The company then makes money by charging a monthly or discounted annual subscription fee. Care2Talk typically sells 10 tablets and subscriptions to a care community to start.

The startup’s founding story starts with its founder’s family. CEO Jordan Schley came up with the idea for Care2Talk as he realized people in care homes, including his own grandpa, were becoming increasingly isolated due to pandemic restrictions. To solve this problem, Schley gave his grandfather a tablet to see if he was able to make a call on it. He was, and he did, “over and over again,” Schley explains.

Still, he felt the process could be simpler, and knew there were many care communities that may be interested in a broader solution. “So, I kind of pestered the [government] and pestered BC Care [Providers Association] about it and said, ‘Hey, listen, I'm trying to build something, but I don't know if it's going to be a good fit or what you guys think of it.’” Though Schley had nothing built, BC Care was interested enough in his idea that they agreed to provide $10,000 to pilot a new tool once he’d created a prototype. With one partner committed, Schley took his pitch to other care communities, and they all bought in. “So it was kind of like a checkbox of like the need be in there without having a product,” he says. It was February of 2021 and time for the real work to begin.

By June last year, Schley and his team had built an MVP and were working with the initial care providers who paid for the product in advance, sorting out kinks and solving bugs. The Omcricon wave added a few delays to the firm’s go-to-market plans, but Schley says by January of this year, he started selling hard.

His efforts so far have led Care2Talk to be operational across the country with ties to health services organizations in multiple provinces. And as the product has scaled, so has Schley’s team, which now has nine employees and plans to grow 30 percent by the end of summer.

Next on Care2Talk’s agenda is the integration of a telehealth platform called Care2Talk - Health. It will enable seniors in care communities and their families to connect with health providers together, including doctors, nurses, and social workers, through Care2Talk’s platform. In addition, the company is working with organizations to add health monitoring and analytics to seniors’ care through an arm bracelet, as a way to further complement communication and care with their video tool.

A portion of the recent funding will go towards building out these parts of the business in advance of a larger raise later this year, Schley says. And while the company is growing nationally, Schley still wants to make a difference on Vancouver Island, he tells Victoria Tech Journal. “It’s not Vancouver, it’s not Toronto. I’m just trying to make an impact in Victoria and this little tech community that we have. There’s been good stuff coming out from it,” he shares.