Near Technology, Inc.

Various studies have shown that most older adults are interested in using technology to maintain independence and productivity. Since COVID, the need to utilize technologies to connect with their loved ones has only increased. However, a lack of instructional guidance regarding how to use it and a knowledge gap have prevented widespread adoption of even the basic tools, so most seniors need guidance and support in adopting new technologies. In many cases, older adults rely on their adult children or grandchildren for support. However, these tech support interactions often lead to frustrations from both sides. Seniors often feel like burdens to their loved ones, and the children who often feel obligated to provide support as the ones introducing new technologies to their parents dread the unexpected tech support calls they randomly receive throughout the day. As a result, many seniors living in a retirement community would turn to the facility's caregivers and staff for their tech questions.

Most retirement communities in the United States have yet to offer tech support as a part of their core service offerings. Therefore, the responsibilities fall onto younger staff members who are often already underpaid and overworked. Over time, these workers become less productive at their jobs. In addition to facing high employee turnover and lower occupancy rates, retirement communities struggle to fulfill this growing need. As a result, residents are often left feeling lonely and socially isolated.

near provides tech support and coaching to residents in retirement communities to help residents stay connected with their loved ones and reduce staff burnout. We do this by offering the near Tech Stand, that brings the Genius Bar experience into the comfort of their communities. Each week, our staff (aka the near Neighbor) spends several hours at the community’s shared space to assist with the residents’ tech needs.

Our solution serves older adults and the people providing care for them.

Older Adults.

The problems we address are 10% technological and 90% personal. The biggest difference between IT support and near is that while IT support repairs broken devices, near repairs broken confidence. The underlying reasons many older adults eschew technology are emotional. It is often out of fear of making mistakes, frustrations, and feelings of inadequacy that many of them are not actively adopting technologies. These human problems beg for a human-centric solution, not a tech-first solution. 

That’s why we choose to begin by empowering seniors with the skillsets to use modern technology instead of replacing them. Barbara Beskind, a 98-yo inventor at IDEO once said, “Design with us, not for us”. We believe that all tech companies must change their approach to embody that message, and we aim to be at the forefront of this change.

Life Enrichment Managers.

The title of this position in retirement communities varies a bit, from Life Enrichment Manager, Program Manager, Event Coordinator, and many more. But their primary responsibility can be best described in three words: making residents happy, which entails tasks ranging from group facilitator to new community member intake, to volunteer coordinator, to event planner, newsletter editor, calendar administrator, front desk and driver supervisor, staff trainer. The list goes on and on. These individuals always work on-site, remember residents’ names by heart, and their hands-on interactions with residents make them become the de-facto tech support for the residents.

Sadly, most of them receive compensation around the minimum wage ($35k-$45k) and work with no or tiny teams. Exhaustion often prevents them from growing in the workplace and pushes many to hop from one community to another with an unclear career trajectory. Although many find their work fulfilling, most quit within 3-12 months.

Through the Tech Stand, we aim to lessen the burden of their work by reducing their overall workload as well as helping them improve residents’ well-being through technology.

Ferrona and Andrew met 1.5 years ago when both enrolled in the New Venture Discovery class at Kellogg School of Management. The class’ premise was to solve a problem that students are passionate about and pitch it in front of their classmates to form a team.

Ferrona’s was, “senior care is difficult to navigate”, and Andrew’s was, “why is it so hard to Facetime grandma”. Eager to work with someone who understands the challenges, Ferrona approached Andrew who already committed to working with another team. With his Facetime fiasco with Grandma Mueller still fresh from two months prior, Andrew decided to join Ferrona in understanding why it is hard to Facetime grandma. Ten weeks after their meeting, near was born.

Our parents are retiring, and we simply refuse to live in a future where their iPhone planned obsolescence takes precedence over their dignity. We believe the key to success here is execution, and near has got the right team to do just that.

As a former COO of another early-stage startup, Ferrona's well prepared to execute under heavy constraints. With no money to spend, she spearheaded near’s first marketing effort. In a classic Craigslist-style, she published a "tech support for older adults!" post on Nextdoor.com to gauge interest from local Evanstonians and got 30 people reached out within 24 hours, 14 became paying customers. In the ensuing weeks, she cold emailed/called retirement communities non-stop, and got the company where it is now without spending a dime in sales and marketing.

When Andrew learned that many executives in retirement communities rarely check emails, he got on his feet, selling door to door, which led to the company's largest contract by value with Brookdale.

Lastly, we have tapped into an overlooked talent pool: social work students. These students are passionate about working with older adults and come geared with the proper training. Their motivation to work with near is intrinsic, so getting the job done does not require much convincing. Teaching technical skills to these students is much easier than imparting the necessary patience in working with older adults to a technical person.

Solve’s core values align with our company’s mission, and the program’s resources can help catapult our team’s growth to reach millions of people.

Traditional investment firms, particularly venture capital companies, emphasize technology for technology’s sake, as the assumption is that technology is easier to scale. As a result, many startups in the industry create senior-friendly variants of basic technologies to increase adoption with big buttons and clunky interfaces, assuming that the barriers to tech adoption among older adults are primarily due to age-related declines. But these assistive tools are rooted in the assumption that aging is disabling, which enforces negative ageism that denies seniors from engaging with modern technologies.

Our approach at near is quite the opposite: we prioritize listening to our clients before everything else. We challenge our biases by working closely with seniors and their caregivers and let our conversations guide our tech design and development. We believe this approach aligns well with Solve’s value in human-center solutions, making the program a perfect place for our team to grow. We hope that the mentor network and the resources can help us solidify our design strategies, making our company the first one to design with older adults in mind. Because at the end of the day, older adults want iPhones, not Jitterbugs.

Additionally, the program’s emphasis on partnerships is uniquely positioned to help us accelerate our growth. near can only be successful if retirement community operators (e.g., Brookdale, Sunrise Living, etc.), the government, and tech companies join forces with us. The Biden Infrastructure bill, recent creations of “tech concierge” positions in some retirement communities, and the launch of Alexa Together from Amazon show that there are commitments from both government and private bodies in advancing senior care in the country. However, with 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day, we cannot afford siloed efforts prone to bureaucracy. With our direct interface with retirement communities, and our work with everyday gadgets from big tech firms (e.g., iPhones, Alexas, Gmail accounts), we believe that near can help open conversations between the various organizations and streamline the multiple efforts in improving the lives of older adults and their caregivers.

Our approach is unique because we provide a new model of caregiving that is more resistant to caregiver burnout and, ultimately, employee turnover.

Most non-medical caregivers are responsible for a wide range of duties, including eating, bathing, maintaining personal hygiene, dressing, toileting, essential mobility, preparing meals, transportation assistance, light housecleaning, laundry, and shopping for essentials. In the current, most common settings, the setting is similar to a 1:1 defense in basketball; one caregiver is responsible for one person. However, as someone grows older, their needs get more complex and demanding. Under the current model, the responsibilities of the caregivers also get progressively harder, emotionally and physically, which often results in increased stress.

We believe that the saying, “it takes a village to raise a child,” should extend to senior care. Many tasks go into caring for someone, and we are proposing to break down these responsibilities into multiple pieces so everyone involved can carry a lighter weight on their backs.

Our team started with tech support because the problem we are solving is painfully apparent, especially after millions of seniors were isolated during the height of the pandemic. But ultimately, we hope to expand our offering to include tasks distinct from but tangential to tech support (e.g., companionship, continued education, etc.) and influence the overall caregiving industry to embrace the same value for the good of the care recipients as well as the caregivers.

Our goal for the next year is to serve all retirement communities in the Chicago metro, which has ~300 retirement communities within 35 miles of downtown. The current boot-strapped strategy involves direct sales to each retirement community, which is slow. We plan to partner with community operators like Brookdale to make near’s offerings a part of the core amenities. Now that we are at 4 out of 7 Brookdale apartments within 30 miles of Chicago downtown, we will approach Brookdale corporate and other operators to get into more communities. By the end of 2022, we will have a solidified strategy in working with retirement communities that we can deploy in other metro areas, including New York, Miami, San Francisco/San Jose, and Houston. We will use a data-driven approach to prioritize our expansion through gathering currently accessible demographic data and running and tracking online ads.

Concurrently with these geographic expansions, which we predict to take about 2-3 years, we will start approaching home health agencies and hospital systems to form new partnerships. How these partnerships will unfold is still unclear as we have yet to explore the possibilities, but through our current traction, we will be able to solidify these partnership strategies within 1 to 2 years.

Ultimately in five years, we aim to serve (at minimum) 50% of the entire baby boomers and their caregivers through various partnerships and geographic expansion.

We have two sets of KPIs (key performance indicators): 1.) performance KPIs, and 2.) growth KPIs.

near’s performance KPIs include 1.) the number of residents served in each tech stand, 2.) the number of unique residents served, and 3.) the % of tech problems solved. From September 2021 to January, we serve an average of 4.2 residents at every hour of Tech Stand. As we gather more information on each residents’ tech situations (e.g. the device they use, the types of questions they ask, their level of skills and comfort in using tech), we have now increased our service efficiency to reach 4.7 residents at every hour of Tech Stand.

By increasing the efficiency of the Tech Stand, we have been able to reach more people in each community. At 10 retirement communities, we now have served 350 unique individuals, averaging 35 residents per community.

Of the 400 tech support sessions, 80% of tech issues were successfully solved. The remaining 20% are unresolved typically due to issues that either require technical skills that are beyond our expertise or device upgrades.

By introducing more enabling technologies as we scale, we are confident that these metrics will continue to increase. Details about our core technology are available in the next sessions.

near’s growth KPIs include 1.) revenue, 2.) the number of communities reached, and 3.) the number of communities converted. Our total revenue is $5,390. From September – February, our revenues are $345, $760, $595, $725, $1,187.5, $1,777.5. From September to December, our business model was B2C, so the generated revenues were from individuals paying for private tech support for $80/hour. Our B2B business was then still in pilot, with 4 retirement communities piloting the Tech Stand at no cost. Starting in January 2022, 2 of them converted into paying customers, signing 6-12 months contracts resulting in a $785 MRR.

In February 2022, we added 2 more B2B partners to a total of 4 and added another one as per 03/15. We now have 5 paying B2B customers, resulting in $2,326 MRR. Since we converted into B2B, we have reached out to a total of 38 retirement communities: 9 in 2021, 15 in January, and 14 in February. 4/9 (44%) converted in 2021, 4/15 (27%) converted in January, and 3/14 (28%) converted in February.

Our current activities include supporting older adults in using and maintaining their essential technology use (phones, tablets, and computers) throughout their aging status. The outputs include increased overall confidence and comfort in interacting with technologies, encouraging technology adoption of more complex devices, including smart home devices, wearable devices, and monitoring tools. The expected short-term outcome is older adults comfortably use a host of enabling devices, interoperable with one another in assisting their activities of daily living, such as connecting with their loved ones, controlling their environment (e.g., temperature with thermostats, lights with smart bulbs), and tracking their exercises and overall physical health.

Our observations of our current clients drive these hypotheses. ~38% (133 individuals) of our clients ask for new device recommendations after three tech support sessions, suggesting that the level of interest in adopting new technologies correlates directly with comfort level in using them. Additionally, studies have shown that baby boomers, who are entering retirement in the next five years, embrace digital lives, which further suggests an existing general interest in keeping up with tech developments.

The long-term outcome is more productive, independent older adults capable of aging at home with minimal caregiver interventions. Additionally, the caregiver's workload is also significantly reduced and well distributed among family members, healthcare institutions, and additional workforce from companies like near.

Front-end.

We recently launched the Tech Stand App, which streamlines the check-in process at each Tech Stand. The app collects a resident’s contact info (name, phone number/email), and more importantly, information related to their tech use which include the type of device (phone/tablet/computer), the brand (Apple/Microsoft/Google), and the nature of questions they need assistance with. This information equips our Neighbors with the insight they need to provide high-quality service and ultimately solves problems faster.

Back-end.

Using readily available tools (Notion, AirTable), we have built a knowledge database through which our Neighbors can retrieve how-to guides and troubleshooting notes from past tech support sessions.

Full-stack integration.

The ultimate goal for our tech development is to integrate the newly-developed front-end with the back-end. Currently, data collected on the app is stored in Google’s Firebase, while information stored on our AirTable has been around since the company’s formation several months ago. Our next step includes converting CSV files from AirTable into JSON files to be combined with the latest data collected on the app. After we have a solid platform for our data collection, we will implement data analytics to start personalizing each client’s tech support experience depending on the device they use, their overall comfort with technologies, and their aging status. With some of our clients, we have started implementing changes to their technology setup to adapt to their evolving health and cognitive progression. For instance, a resident suffering from macular degeneration requires new home computer setups and some accessibility upgrades on his devices (e.g., enlarged fonts, increased contrasts, etc.). By collecting our clients’ tech use, we hope to predict and anticipate these changes, allowing us to be proactive in helping them adapt and age with technology.

Flexible Work Hours for near Neighbors

Many of our near Neighbors, who are current graduate students at the social work school, are females. Like many others in the social work field and the overall senior care industry, women make up much (89%) of the workforce, making them more vulnerable to the demographic shift that is putting more strain on the already existing caregiver crisis.

At near, we allow Neighbors to work remotely. Outside of their responsibility to staff Tech Stands in person, our team members have the flexibility to work from home, which opens up our talent pool to include mothers who serve as the primary caregiver for their children.

Our current business model is B2B. The Tech Stands are paid for by the retirement communities as a new addition to the amenities that they offer to their residents at $300-$800/month. Tech Stand contracts last for 6-12 months, paid monthly through the Life Enrichment budget.

We currently have 10 active B2B customers, 5 are paying and 5 others are in the “pilot” period where they try it at no cost. Brookdale Lake Shore Drive, an upscale retirement community in downtown Chicago has the highest contract value at $9,060/year, when the other contracts are averaging $4,800/year.

From the 28,900 retirement communities in the US, ~50% are independent living apartments, our main target. If we can reach 30% of those (~4,300 retirement communities) with our current contract value of $6,000/year, we can make ~$26M ARR.

The existing contracts are from the event/life enrichment budget. The directors of these departments are often the de-factor tech support in their communities and experience the pain points of getting the burden that they are willing to scope out their budget to lessen their load. These budgets are small and correlate directly with the occupancy rate, making our contract values relatively small ($3k-$9k/year).

But we see our service as more than just a “life enrichment” addition. Resident tech support needs to and will be a standard in the industry. Senior living operators (e.g., Brookdale, Senior Lifestyle, etc.) who have acknowledged the need for in-house resident tech support typically create a new “IT” position and spend a min. $60k/year in salary. We are confident that we can tap into this budget, position our offering as a cheaper alternative, and increase the size of our contracts by ~5-10x per facility.

Direct costs to support each Tech Stand include compensation for the Neighbors at $25/hour. Indirect costs include our office rent (we’re occupying a 66 ft2 space at Industrious Evanston), G&A tools (Calendly, AirTable, Google, Slack, and 1Password, add up to $45/month per employee), salary for our Head of Operations at $35/hour who helps Ferrona manage the company’s operations, and our product development.

Since we have yet to be profit-generating, in the margin calculation we are going to exclude office rent and our Head of Operations salary as these two indirect costs are going remain constant as we grow.

With $2,327 MRR, we’re serving 31 hours of Tech Stand per month. Direct costs for these Tech Stand, is therefore $775/month (31 hours x $25). We are currently employing six part-time students from the Loyola School of Social Work program for our Tech Stand, which makes our G&A expenses $270/month ($45/month x 6 employees). Our total costs (direct + indirect) for each Tech Stand are therefore $1,045/month, which yield to a 55% margin. This margin will be lower as we grow because we will be able to hire less staff for more Tech Stands. Since our current staffs are all students, they can only spend ~3-5 hours/week at near, so we have to have six students to fulfill 31 hours of Tech Stand. When we become the official Field Work Partner for Loyola University School of Social Work in the summer, students will be able to spend 24 hours/week at near, which will reduce the number of staffs needed per hour of Tech Stand.

Grants from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management: $1,000 from the New Venture Development Class (January 2021) to test out the initial idea, $5,000 from the New Venture Launch Class (May 2021) to launch the business, including creating a website, incorporating, etc.

$2,000 was received from Stanford Center for Longevity Design Competition to work on our initial product design (January 2021).

$10,000 was raised from friends and family, and an additional $10,000 was received from a local Chicago investor and near's advisor, Tom Lee.