San Diego-based Independa was in stealth mode until September, when founding CEO Kian Saneii gave a presentation about the startup and its technology at the Demo conference in San Jose.
Today, Saneii is unveiling Independa’s first apps at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. “This is the first time that customers can sign up for our service, so it’s huge,” says Saneii. “This is very much about customers.”
The company was founded less than two years ago with the goal of using innovations in IT and wireless technologies to help the elderly continue to live independently in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes. Saneii says he also hopes Independa will be in the vanguard of a “revolution in the healthcare industry from outside.” He believes new technology players outside the healthcare establishment must drive cost cutting in healthcare. As he puts it, “You really can’t do it from the inside. At the end of the day, everyone on the inside is aligned to hold the [existing] system together.”
The company says its first offering is called the Independa “Smart Reminders” service, a Web-based platform that combines apps for smart calendaring, medication reminders, and “life stories” into a browser-based system managed by caregivers.
The browser-based calendar is “one-sided,” meaning that a caregiver handles all the scheduling for an elderly relative, who doesn’t have to know anything about the technology. Rather, the app triggers automated telephone calls that remind the elderly relative of appointments, birthdays and other important dates.
The system also can be used to trigger automated phone calls that remind
