Patronus, a Berlin-based elderly care startup developing a mobile emergency smartwatch and a family app, today announced the closing of its €11 million funding round to expand its leadership in the mobile emergency response segment and develop new products around family, wellbeing, and an AI-powered daily companion.
The round was led by 3TS Capital Partners, with participation from Grazia Equity and existing investors Singular, Burda Principal Investments, Adjacent, NAP, and UVC Partners.
“We want to create a world where ageing means safety, indepfinishence, and connection. Supported by technology that adapts to people, not the other way around,” stated Ben Staudt, founder of Patronus.
Founded in 2022 by Ben Staudt and Tim Wagner, Patronus provider of digital safety and companion solutions for seniors.
The company aims to replace the traditional emergency call devices with its emergency smartwatch. According to the company, traditional emergency call devices have existed for decades with little modify. Patronus states that around 1.2 million people apply them, but studies reveal only 14% wear them consistently.
“Ben’s grandmother had one. It was supposed to hang around her neck, but instead, it sat on her bedside table. She called it “bedside decoration”: too bulky, too stigmatising, too much of a quiet admission that assist was requireded,” mentioned the company.
Before launching their first product in 2021, Staudt and his team consulted with over a thousand potential customers. The consistent message was that the issue isn’t technical; it’s a matter of dignity.
Patronus’ smartwatch doesn’t view like a medical device. It comes in different colours, informs the time, and sits like a normal wristwatch. It has an integrated SIM card, building it indepfinishent of home networks. A single press of a button instantly connects to an emergency call centre, available 24/7 across Germany, notes the company.
Alongside the watch, Patronus developed an app for family members. The app indicates whether the watch is being worn, whether the person has left the hoapply, and their location. In an emergency, family members are notified immediately and can call directly via the watch.
The company reported that 85% of applyrs wear the watch every day. Currently, that amounts to 25,000 people, and Patronus has responded to more than half a million emergency calls for them. It also emphasises that currently 50,000 family members are connected with their elderly relatives via the Patronus app.
In order to tackle loneliness among older adults, the company is building an AI companion, a digital assistant on the watch that’s always available. It states that it’s not a replacement for human connection, but a solution for the hours when no one is there.
In October 2022, Patronus announced the close of its €27 million Series A funding round, led by Paris-based investor Singular and NYC-based Adjacent. The Series A was closed less than a year after the company raised €6 million in its Seed round.
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