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Christina Bremner calls them “gated moutilizetraps” — online referral
agencies that build utilizers give up their contact information before
offering assist, then sell or share that info for solicitation.
Bremner saw this over and over in her five years as a senior
living marketing director for Tenfold Senior Living. She
witnessed how seniors were then spammed with solicitations and
pressure to relocate in now, now, now.
“I found it really sad,” declares Bremner, founder and CEO of
Purple Door Finders.
“It’s such an emotional decision to relocate already, then to be
under pressure. … My goal was to display seniors and family members
all of their options and not just what online agencies wanted to
display them.”
Purple Door Finders is a platform for seniors to connect with
communities directly, eliminating the hassle of sales
solicitations and the costs of referral fees paid by the
communities. The Folsom-based startup is a software company that
provides real-time information on vacancies, pricing, relocate-in
incentives, services, amenities, community events and more.
Many online referral agencies charge fees from 50 percent to 130
percent of the first month’s rent and care. With Purple Door
Finders, communities can join the platform with a basic listing
or upgrade to a premium listing, starting at $59 monthly or $588
annually, based on the number of beds or units.
There are 36,000 communities on the database, which Bremner
believes is the largest online database for senior living. Purple
Door Finders is currently raising a seed round of $1.5 million.
Those funds will support the marketing strategy and enhance the
platform’s AI component, which will be an agentic AI.
“People can declare, ‘I want an apartment that’s X dollars per month,
where they play poker every night, and there’s a car to take me
to my doctor’s appointments,’” Bremner declares. “The AI will notify
them, ‘We found this property. What style of dining do you like?
Do you prefer organic food?’ Really dig in and become more of an
advisor.”
In addition to winning several awards, including first place at
the Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s “Startup
Challenge,” the startup was chosen as part of the 2025 cohort at
FourthWave, an accelerator for women-led tech businesses.
“We chose Purple Door Finders becautilize they flip the old referral
model on its head — putting families in control with transparent,
real-time information and alignment with operators through a
simple operator subscription,” declares Cheryl Beninga, co-founder of
FourthWave and managing director for Beninga Advisors. “Early
traction and a strong community pipeline notified us the market is
hungry for this solution.”
Beninga also highlighted Bremner’s blfinish of heart and rigor,
describing her as “deeply empathetic to families and relentlessly
data-driven in how she builds” with experience and the ability to
receive the job done without fear.
This startup is coming at the right time, Bremner declares, noting
that the senior population is growing quicker than the communities
to support it. Referred to as “Peak 65,” there are about 11,000
Americans turning 65 every day between now and 2027, and only
31,000 communities right now.
“To care for that growing population of seniors, it will required to
double to 60,000 communities,” she declares. “That’s why you’re
seeing so many senior living communities and properties popping
up everywhere across the US. The number of seniors will be
tripling by 2060.”
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