marta, the digital platform for home care, announces the conclusion of the first round of financing in the amount of 6.6 million euros, led by Capnamic together with Almaz Capital. Investors also include GMPVC, Ithaca, SumUp Impact Fund, Verve Ventures, as well as leading European entrepreneurs and investors such as Christian Vollmann, Johannes Schaback, Laura Esnola, Dr. Steffen Zoller and Julian Stiefel. The capital obtained in this financing round will be used to increase the core team in Sibiu, Berlin, Gdansk and Vilnius, but also to develop and optimize specific business procedures and processes.
marta aims to revolutionize the market of home care services for the elderly, changing the way in which caregivers from Romania and other Eastern European countries enter a market that is constantly growing in Germany, but also in other countries. The market of German speakers (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) is worth 18 billion euros. Germany has more than 4 million elderly people seeking care at home, while only 280,000 carers are active in the mobile care sector. This major imbalance represents an opportunity for caregivers from Eastern Europe who want to increase their income by providing home care services in Germany.
Through the platform, which is based on its own algorithm, marta offers the solution to one of the most pressing problems of the field of home care, namely the poor results of the existing procedures, by which caregivers are placed on cases. Marta’s data-driven matching algorithm ensures successful placements while allowing caregivers to directly negotiate their contract, reducing the cost and complexity of the home care solution for families. Focusing on the transparency of procedures and the human component of home care services, marta aims to ensure more freedom of choice for caregivers, but also to improve the quality of services provided to families.
marta addresses one of the pressing social issues at the moment. The difficulties faced by carers and families who need these services are the same all over the world: securing a home care solution is very complicated and time-consuming, the market is highly fragmented and there is no transparency, legality and advice specialty.
Demographic changes caused by the aging of the global population bring to the fore the need for home care. The existing solutions for the care of the elderly are, most of the time, unsatisfactory. Currently, carers willing to provide these services face multiple intermediaries (in some cases as many as six agencies may be involved in the intermediary procedure), and around 80% of these placements fail. This happens because the specific needs of the family do not match the services provided by the provider/carer. With its digital platform, based on detailed data and information, on its own compatibility algorithm, marta can avoid these predictable failures from the start.
marta allows both the elderly and the caregivers more autonomy and ensures them the freedom to compare, decide and opt for the terms of service that suit the requirements of both parties. In addition, marta has automated key administration procedures for caregivers, giving them the ability to manage their insurance policies, bills and taxes directly on the platform, so they can focus on what they do best: to care devotedly for those in need.
“marta has created a true online care marketplace where caregivers and families who need these services meet directly and transparently. It is a truly unique approach in this field, which is based on digitization. We have been following the evolution of marta for the last few months and we are deeply impressed by the sophistication of the technology and the performance of the marta team. We especially enjoy the enthusiasm with which this great social issue is being tackled,” says Jörg Binnenbrücker, Capnamic’s founder and lead investor.
“There are hundreds of examples of difficult situations that can arise in the home care process. We hear of carers who are surprised when they receive their payment at the end of their contract. In addition, each of us knows concrete situations from relatives or friends about how difficult it is to find a way to care for grandparents. Aging is a natural thing; as well as the willingness to provide services in this field. We need to know how to manage care from both perspectives. We are convinced that we can use current technology in an intelligent way to help both the elderly and those who want to care for them,” says Maria-Magdalena Jura, Marta Country Head for Romania.
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