The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed even more deeply the dire labor shortages facing the senior living and care industry. In response, Seattle-based startup Kevala now is working to help fill the gap.
The firm recently raised $4 million to help fund its integrated workforce management and care orchestration platform, which can be used by long-term care facilities for staffing, compliance and more. Private equity firm Vulcan Capital led the funding round, which also included participation from Costanoa Ventures, High Alpha and PSL Ventures.
Kevala spun out of Seattle startup studio Pioneer Square Labs in April. The startup is focused on helping senior living communities and skilled nursing facilities access supplemental nursing staff. Through the technology, users can build a curated pool of on-call nurses to fill shifts.
“As the demand for nurses outstrips the supply, and the gap widens, the healthcare labor shortage is becoming a national crisis,” Kevala CEO Todd Owens told Geekwire. “By building an integrated and intelligent ‘software as a service’ solution, we are able to usher in a modern work environment and significantly impact a facility’s bottom line,” he said.
One of Kevala’s clients, Aegis Living, already has expressed need for the technology.
“We’re incredibly excited to work with Kevala to develop a unique platform that will enable us to better manage our care team’s time and scheduling — to ensure everyone is in the right place, at exactly the right time — and do it with the same technology they are already using in other parts of their lives,” Kris Engskov, president of Aegis Living, said in a statement.
