Odom Senior Care, launched this summer by two-time NBA champion Lamar Odom to help older adults and their families find residential senior living, has been acquired by online senior living lead generator ZNest, which was launched earlier this year to help operators find quality leads and simplify the housing search for consumers.
ZNest said that the acquisition will lead to more transparency in the industry.
As part of the deal, Odom will assume the position of chief creative officer at the combined company, ZNest.com, where his role will be to educate and connect operators with people looking for senior living communities.
ZNest founder and CEO Bennett Kim said that the two companies have similar visions and parallel missions.
“Both organizations strive to provide transparency in the opaque world of senior living, aiming to connect families with senior living facilities that fit their personal needs,” Kim said in a statement.
“We have the same goals, so it just made sense for us to work together,” added Odom, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers. Odom Senior Care previously said that Odom’s inspiration for launching the company came from his experience when his 96-year-old grandmother needed to leave her home in the Bronx, NY, after 70 years.
ZNest — which has a national database of independent living, assisted living and memory care communities as well as skilled nursing facilities — launched in May with a promise to eliminate “exploitive” referral fees. The platform allows families to search its database for a location and operators to access free leads. The company said the process is meant to create operational efficiencies. In a launch communication, ZNest said it “hopes operators fill vacancies faster without high acquisition costs.”
Odom Senior Care, meanwhile, launched as an authorized referral service provider collecting information for Regency Palms Senior Living in Oxnard and Long Beach, CA. The communities follow up with people who complete a form on the Odom Senior Care website. The ultimate goal of the company was to provide older adults with pre-negotiated rates for communities nationwide.
ZNest.com said it will unveil its consumer-facing website early next year, offering resources and tools. A partnership goal is “simplifying, demystifying and humanizing the process of selecting senior housing” for consumers, according to the company.
“By creating transparency, we can reduce business referral fees for the entire senior housing industry,” Kim said. “If we can reduce referral fees, operators can focus on providing better service.”
Senior living operators can claim free profiles on ZNest to manage listings, upload photos and virtual tours, and use the site’s customer relationship management features. Digital document management and storage, payment processing and e-signature tools are available for a fee.
“On ZNest, small operators get better exposure, large operators save money and everyone involved can increase internal operational efficiencies while staying compliant,” Kim said.
