Evercare is an AI-based hyperlocal support system, through which seniors from any part of the world can take care of their support, companionship and wellness needs.
Family WhatsApp groups, video chats, and phone calls have made communication with family members easier for those away from home, but when you’re at home, for groceries or for your parents Also it is not easy to complete small tasks like a walk in the park.
This was something that Sohail Khan found challenging in all his 18 years away from home. In Kolkata, small things like helping his mother or going to the doctor, or finding an electrician were big issues for him. And it was difficult to coordinate over the phone to perform these tasks from a different city.
Sohail felt that the only service available to elderly people was limited to healthcare. It led him to launch Evercare in 2019 along with Gaurav Goyal. Evercare is an artificial intelligence (AI) -based hyperlocal support system, through which senior citizens’ support, companionship and wellness needs can be taken care of from any corner of the world.
The company is headquartered in Singapore and launched in India this year. It offers innumerable services for parents and senior citizens in Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and Calcutta. In addition, it has virtual plans for senior citizens across India.
How did it begin?
Sohail and Gaurav met at a startup generator event run by Antler, Singapore. When the two interviewed more than 300 seniors and their children, they realized that there was an inherent difference between the needs of seniors and the needs of their children to their parents.
Sohail says
“While children are concerned about their parents ‘health, the parents’ needs were social and support related. They wanted to spend time productively, have more avenues to meet more people and whenever they can. Stuck in daily tasks, they need someone to help them. Even when they had a maid or a cook, they wanted someone to look after them. “
Both found that 30 percent of all senior citizens in India live alone. If you look at those with partners, this number is equal to 50 percent. With the increasing migratory nature of work, this number is only going to increase.
Sohail felt that it was not just his problem. There are millions of Indians who have the same issues in caring for their parents and go nowhere. Thus, Evercare was born.
An IIT Kharagpur graduate, Sohail started his career with a Fortune 500 company – JLL. He is also an MBA graduate from IIM Lucknow. He has worked with an initiative of Dabur and has also been part of the core team at TVF until 2019, when he joined Tech Incubator Antler after getting the idea of Evercare.
Gaurav, on the other hand, was the lead engineer at Samsung R&D Institute, India, with five years of experience in creating dynamic web projects, mobile apps and desktop software.
How does the platform work?
Evercare aims to help senior citizens in anything, anywhere and anytime. The five areas the team works on are support, companionship, wellness, healthcare and social experience.
On the aid front, Evercare provides assistance travel, in-home assistance and technology related assistance for seniors. Travel assistance includes taking you to the doctor, visiting the bank, visiting places of worship, shopping, airport pickup and drop etc.
House Assistance helps in every way imaginable inside the house in the evening such as groceries, paying bills, filling in forms, writing emails, restructuring the house, getting a package, visiting relatives or friends at home Helping you manage things, etc.
In terms of technology, Evercare helps seniors use social media platforms such as Facebook and WhatsApp, any help related to computers or mobile phones, installing new apps, removing junk, etc. There are teams of assistants who are senior Work with citizens.
For companionship, wellness and social experiences, there is a team of ‘Evercare Friends’, mapped to appropriate seniors through AI-based infrastructure based on their personality, needs and interests.
Creating an ‘Evercare Friends’ network
All candidates are white-collar professionals who undergo a five-stage psychological and behavioral assessment prior to a background check to ensure complete safety and reliability.
The challenge is in choosing the right people from the crowd. To deal with this, Evercare adopts a strict selection process to select Evercare Friends. The entire selection process starts with virtual psychometric and behavioral testing.
After the initial investigation, a background check is performed which includes physical verification, criminal record check and a reference check. The company only accepts white-collar professionals who have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree as their education qualification. It has an acceptance rate of less than 10 percent.
Anyone can avail the services of Evercare through a helpline number or web platform. People can book their services for any type of needs and using ML, the platform connects them with the right Evercare friend.
Sohail says,
“Evercare Friends not only help in their service but are involved in the whole process. For example when they help you on a journey, they pick up your bags, they open doors for you, they help you navigate the crowds, you help find places and wherever necessary , Speak for you. When they are bringing you back home, they make sure you are indoors and have drunk a glass of water before exiting. “
Business model
The customer is charged hourly and has to pay for the number of hours it takes to complete the work. The platform allows people from any part of the world to pay, book and monitor services in real time.
Customers can monitor activity through live location sharing and real-time updates to the service on WhatsApp. Evercare plans to launch its own mobile app next month.
Sohail says
“The company also has corporate plans that are beneficial to corporates, considering that 80 percent of the working population is working away from their hometown. These plans are adapted keeping in mind the needs of the employee and the willingness of their family members and parents to take care of them. ”
The company has partnered with RWA and platforms such as Adda to provide its services to the elderly living in residential areas.
Although Evercare is charged per hour, the service is converted to a subscription format in case of regular requirement through work or service requests.
Sohail says
“This model works on service quality and people trust the brand. Both take time to form. We spend approximately two to three weeks shortlisting and onboarding every Evercare member to ensure the safety and quality aspect of the business. So we see 20 per cent of the business as discussion and an increasing number of repeat customers. ”
Revenue and market
Sohail says that as the team receives more data, it will be able to derive AI for service prediction and more accurate mapping. Currently the average transaction price of the platform is Rs 300 for required delivery and Rs 3,000 for subscription-based consumers. The average margin per transaction is 50 percent and the total registered service providers are 500. The team claims to have seen a 2-month month-over-month increase so far.
Evercare services are paid for booking the service by family member / children and are used by parents / senior citizens. The workforce is paid 40–50 percent of service, giving Evercare a gross margin of 50–60 percent per service.
Sohail says, “Our goal is any Indian, whose parents are those who are either single or want to use their free time to do something productive. Since this is a completely new market, we are in a very early stage. ”
He said that there are more than 30 million NRIs worldwide, whose parents are staying away. Sohail says
“Even if one of them pays $ 100 a year to care for their parents, Evercare could potentially touch an ARR of $ 30 million. Also, urban India has a working population of 10 million with a salary of 8 million. SAM for this market is $ 1.2 billion. “
Currently, startups like Beautiful Years, Seniority, Senior Shelf and Silver Talkies focus on seniors as their target audience. Elder is also smart, where anyone can shop. A report by IBEF stated that the senior care industry is expanding rapidly and is believed to touch 1.4 million people by 2020.
The startup has raised seed funding under Antler’s leadership. Sohail says, “Our closest competitors are companies such as EMOHA, Anvaya and IVH Senior Care. However, they are still the first healthcare, while Evercare is the first aid. Our services complement healthcare companies, which allow us to partner with companies such as Portia and Nightingales. ”
Evercare says it is growing on plans to build India’s largest hyperlocal elderly and supportive communities.
Sohail says, “The company aims to expand services to 25 cities by FY 2021-2022. Evercare is working with financial and legal support as part of its services suite.”
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