The UK care home sector was considered a £7,700bn market in 2021, and according to the most recent estimates, capacity is reducing at a time when the average age of the general population keep growing.
Add to this the lack of transparency around pricing and availability of services, and it's clear that families searching for the most suitable nursing home for their aging loved ones face major challenges. This is where Lottie is establishing its target market, with an online environment that helps care seekers find the best residences and services for their needs, while also serving additional categories such as home care.
Founded in London in 2021 by brothers Will and Chris Donnelly, Lottie claims to have around 500.000 monthly users, which it says represents 300 percent growth in the last 12 months. Following a financing round of $ 7 millones Last year, the company announced it had raised $21m (£16,35m) in a Series A funding round led by US venture capital giant Accel, with participation from existing backer General Catalyst.
Finding what the market needs
The social care sector has not been greatly affected by the digital revolution in recent decades, and families typically have to contact local care services directly or use directories and websites such as careuk.com o carehome.co.uk They do not always have all the information a person is looking for or the attention they might need, as well as prices and availability in real time.
Last year, Lottie acquired a nursing home software company called foundcrm.care, which many nursing homes were already using to manage occupancy and the CRM of their business. Thanks to this, Lottie now offers real-time service availability and only shows listings that have actual capacity, which is a huge time saver for situations where families need to find a nursing home quickly.
“Prior to Lottie, and according to our research, families contacted an average of six services before reaching a service that had availability and could meet their care needs,” explained Lottie co-founder and co-CEO Will Donnelly. "In contrast, Lottie allows families to instantly connect with services that accept new clients today and therefore supercharges the search process."
With Found integrated into its marketplace, Lottie can offer care providers a comprehensive platform to manage inquiries, client relationships, occupancy, finances among other things. This also means that in the future, Lottie will manage payments, so families can pay directly through the platform, similar to other booking marketplaces.
“In addition to this, Found will enable Lottie to digitize the viewing, health assessment and referral stages of the booking process, all of which remain out of reach today and are currently performed through manual means,” Donnelly said.
In terms of business model, Lottie monetizes through several avenues. Through its primary marketplace, care providers are currently charged for lead generation and billed on a pay-per-consult basis.
“This charging model helps Lottie provide care seekers with access to care services with immediate vacancies, as providers will close their listings once the service is at full capacity and no longer wish to pay for additional new consultations.” Donnelly said. .
But with Lottie shifting to a marketplace model through its Found integration, it will soon charge a percentage fee of the duration of each residence booked through the Lottie platform. And as a SaaS company, Lottie will also charge healthcare providers for the use of its software, with a subscription model starting at £150 per month.
Expansion
While Lottie is fully focused on the UK care home market for now, the fact that she has secured two major US venture capital firms as backers, who between them have invested in companies such as Spotify, Slack, Atlassian, Airbnb and Snap, it's a bit too much for their global aspirations. However, Donnelly said he does not foresee the company looking at international markets until 2025.
“International expansion is on our radar and was a key reason we have strategically aligned with two global venture capital funds,” said Donnelly. "The US market will offer Lottie's first international expansion route due to similar market characteristics."
With another $21 million in the bank, bringing its total funding to $31 million to date, the company said it plans to double its workforce to more than 100 by the end of next year as it develops its technology.
"While we will grow all departments, Lottie's primary hiring goal is to expand our product and engineering teams," Donnelly said. “With the additional funding, Lottie plans to develop Found to be a comprehensive home operating system and modular solution, meaning providers no longer need to use multiple software to manage their operations and can instead use a single system.” : Found.
