London-based eldercare online marketplace Lottie has raised $21 million in Series A funding. The investment round was led by Accel, with participation from previous investor General Catalyst known for investing in Helsing. This brings the total amount raised by Lottie to $31 million.
The fresh investment will be used to expand Lottie’s marketplace coverage in the UK and to continue developing the platform’s innovative software offerings for care homes. The company will also invest in artificial intelligence and has plans to develop a data insight tool. Also, it will double its team of 50 in 2024.
Will Donnelly, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Lottie, said: “Our goal for Lottie is to become the trusted adviser to care seekers throughout the world – helping families best understand, find and fund later life care. Over 500,000 Britons now visit Lottie every month, and we’re incredibly excited to have Accel join General Catalyst and Kindred on our journey, helping to fuel our next stage of growth and continue in our mission to elevate later life for everybody.”
Sonali De Rycker, Partner at Accel, said: “Will and Chris are on a mission to level up an industry stuck in the dark ages. Lottie offers consumers the modern discovery and booking experience they deserve when finding help for loved ones. In parallel, they offer care providers a suite of tools to shift online and upgrade their operations. Meeting Will and Chris is an experience you don’t forget: they’re an ambitious, high integrity team chasing a significant and important opportunity. We’re excited to be part of their journey.”
Chris Bischoff, Managing Director at General Catalyst, said: “We believe the Lottie team has made great strides in their mission to provide transparency and support for families searching for quality care. They have demonstrated the ability to collaborate with care partners who share their commitment to modernising home care with sustainability, safety, and quality of life in mind. These values align with our Health Assurance thesis and we are excited to participate in their positive impact and continued growth.”
UK’s first end-to-end marketplace to find care
Across the UK, care home availability has reached its lowest point in over a decade. Moreover, the experience for care seekers is complicated, stressful and time consuming, with people contacting an average of six services before finding a provider that fits their personal care needs. In addition, new government data suggests there is a £2.3 billion shortfall in England’s care home funding.
At this point in time, Lottie was founded in 2021 by brothers Will and Chris Donnelly, who experienced firsthand the struggles of finding affordable care services for family members. It operates with the goal of elevating later life for the older generation, modernising the process of finding care, and ensuring that standards of care are improved across the whole sector.
Lottie simplifies the search process so anyone can seamlessly book care online in a similar way to reserving a hotel room via Booking.com or Expedia. With Lottie, care seekers can find, compare and enquire directly with more than 4,000 high-quality care, home care and retirement living services.
It also grants full transparency of pricing and service availability, an industry first that means care seekers can see exactly how much their care will cost and whether the service is accepting new clients. Lottie has already matched tens of thousands of families with care and retirement service providers.
Beyond its core marketplace, Lottie has developed Found by Lottie – a suite of technology tools it acquired in 2022, designed to upgrade the outdated services offered within care homes themselves.
