CareAcademy, a Boston-based startup that trains senior home care professionals, has raised $9.5 million in a new round of funding led by Impact America Fund (IAF). Rethink Impact, ReThink Education, Revolution’s Rise of the Rest, Wanxiang America Healthcare Investment, Techstars Ventures, Strada and ECMC also participated in the round.
Founded by two women of color Helen Adeosun and Madhuri Reddy, CareAcademy was established in 2013 with the goal of providing home care professionals opportunities to climb the career ladder and increase their earning potential.
The startup provides online training in the form of hour-long video courses to home care professionals, and to date, it has trained over 110,000 caregivers with approximately 400,000 classes. Its clientele includes over 1,000 home care agencies in both U.S. and Canada counting companies such as CareLinx, Sodexo Comfort Keepers, Home Helpers and Home Care Assistance.
The funding comes at a time when CareAcademy has pledged to expand its platform to help one million Americans reskill for health care work, to address the acute shortage of health care workers exposed by the coronavirus pandemic.
“We were at the right place at the right time,” CEO Adeosun told BostInno. “We were fortunate enough to not pivot but lean into the moment.”
To that end, the company will direct the proceeds of the round to help health care workers upskill to meet the needs of older population. And, to assist home care agencies onboard, train manage and retain these professionals.
“It has been an interesting mix of both clouds and siver linings,” said Adeosun. “We signed our term sheets a couple of days before the shutdown in March. We’ve been calling attention to the acute shortage of health care professionals and now CareAcademy will step in to address the challenge.”
CareAcademy is set to double in size by the end of year, growing its current headcount of 22 closer to 50 employees, Adeosun said, with a focus on making its workforce diverse.
“I’m excited we are in the moment where we can talk about access,” Adeosun said. “It is amazing to see everything that’s happening, as a black American. In the venture world, it means offering office hours, introductions. But, I’m excited not only for the conversation, but also the execution and accountability.”
