The Development Bank of Wales has made a £250,000 equity investment and led a £440,000 funding round into AI-powered technology that helps keep older people healthy, independent and safe.
Hestia is a privacy-first connected care platform that captures thermal data through wall-mounted sensors to record body temperature, daily movements, resting patterns and falls – without the use of cameras.
Hestia is the brainchild of Dr Afroditi Konidari and Louis Zhang, who founded Cardiff-based TenderTech in 2017. Both are remote carers with experience in digital health, connected care and smart buildings.
Family office Puffin Point, angel investors from Teticlub and business angel investors are investing alongside the development bank. Together with previous investment from Metabaron VC and a £1.4m grant from Innovate UK and UKRI’s Designed for Ageing challenge in 2022, Tendertech plans to use the funding to support the company’s expansion into the wider social care market and create more opportunities in Europe, particularly in the home care sector.
“The elderly population is growing rapidly and the care industry is struggling to keep up,” said Dr. Konidali, CEO of Tendertech. “The current situation calls for innovative AI solutions like Hestia to address the urgent needs of caregivers and fulfill the economic and job creation potential of the care industry.”
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CTO Rui Zhang added: “We all have elderly parents or grandparents, and we know that without being able to be with them all the time, early signs of declining health and frailty can go unnoticed.
“Hestia provides 24/7 visibility of potential risks and peace of mind with remote monitoring. Since Tendertec was founded, it has detected over 5,000 fall-related incidents and early signs of frailty, enabling people with complex care needs to receive early intervention and maintain their independence.”
“We are committed to developing the infrastructure that allows older people and their carers to thrive together and we are grateful for the continued support of the Development Bank of Wales and business angel investors.”
The investment in Tendertec has been provided by the £20 million Wales Technology Seed Fund II, funded by the Welsh Government.
Lindsay Plant, vice president of investments at the development bank, said: “Afroditi and Louis have expertise in machine learning and user-centered design, as well as a passion for technology-enabled care. Our funding will help them empower others to stay healthy, independent and safe with cost-effective, personalized and preventative data-driven solutions.”
“We are delighted to be working with our co-investor Puffin Point. As a family office, they are a great example of how we can attract more investors to Wales and stimulate investment in Welsh businesses.”
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