This has been a monumental week for Sage. We just wrapped up our $35 million Series B fundraising round led by IVP. The round will let us continue to grow and innovate, becoming a catalyst for change within the senior living industry. It will enable us to keep building a platform that addresses the real needs of caregivers and residents, so that hundreds and hundreds more communities can become Sage enabled, cutting response times, improving staff morale, and saving lives.
Right now, at this landmark moment in the Sage story, I can’t help but look back. For Ellen, Matt, and me, building this company was not a technical pursuit or about finding product-market fit. It was personal. That’s what has allowed us to build a tool that caregivers, operators, and residents’ families all love to use. It’s why Sage can solve the problems actually facing senior living.
The initial spark came while watching my parents care for my grandmother. I saw that the best tools available to keep her safe were emergency alert pendants and baby monitors. There was no software to support caregiver workflows or to provide insights to monitor her needs and identify areas requiring additional care. My parents knew the greatest risk was a fall. Still, despite their tireless efforts and all the measures taken, my grandmother suffered a traumatic fall that fractured her hip—ultimately leading to her passing.
I knew there had to be a better way. Technology had seemingly changed every other industry. Data was a boon that led to smarter, more strategic workflows. Why couldn’t it be used to care for loved ones like my grandmother?
These last four years, our team has been dedicated to improving the quality of care for older adults with modern tools for caregivers. We couldn’t be prouder of how far we’ve come:
These accomplishments come as a result of our personal connection to the issue we’re solving for. For Matt, building Sage was about creating a company that could bolster the dignity of aging. When his grandfather fell and broke his hip, it took hours before someone arrived. A few years later, in an assisted living home, Matt’s grandfather fell again, out of reach of a help cord, and waited hours for a nurse to arrive. Ellen’s connection to the industry came while caring for her dad. After a fall left him in the ICU for several months, Ellen found herself unexpectedly in the role of caregiver. After being released from the hospital her dad went into rehab, where Ellen and her family found outdated technology that led to a lack of accountability and ineffective care. Applying her training in user research, she set out to understand the problems the industry faced to create a perspective on how technology could help.
Not long ago, Ellen spoke with a resident who told her Sage brings her comfort because she knows that when she presses the button, an informed caregiver will always arrive. In Hilton Head, SC, an executive director showed me the printouts of Sage’s daily caregiver stats—such as average response time and number of logged care actions—that he posts in the nursing station. Caregivers felt motivated because their leader actively used the data to acknowledge their efforts. It also created a healthy sense of competition, with caregivers proudly noting who performed best in responding to residents that week.
Sage has become the industry’s preferred tool for caregiver engagement and utilization. Our platform is lightweight and intuitive, enabling caregivers to seamlessly navigate workflows. Caregivers are guided through processes step-by-step, eliminating the burden of manually remembering and charting every action across dozens of residents daily.
With this Series B funding, Sage will enter its next phase, bridging unplanned and planned care—two symbiotic elements of resident management. By continuously monitoring daily resident needs, our system, validated by human input, can dynamically adapt care plans. This stands in stark contrast to the current standard, where plans may only be updated quarterly or semi-annually. Older adults don’t have static needs for six months; their acuity can shift within days. With timely interventions during these critical windows, we can prevent negative health outcomes.
Our mission is to transform the quality of care for older adults by empowering caregivers with better tools. As Ellen, Matt and I spoke in 2021, we realized we had a real chance to solve a problem we’d all witnessed firsthand. By designing a better platform, we could bring elderly care into the 21st century. As Matt puts it: “We are committed to help seniors like our parents and grandparents age with dignity.”
But this mission is only possible through true partnership with operators at every level. Sage is a technology platform, but at our core, we serve people. Our technology’s impact is only as strong as the trust we build with the partners who work tirelessly every day to create better outcomes for residents and caregivers alike. Trust isn’t just a value—it’s the foundation of everything we do.
Yours,
Raj Mehra, CEO and Co-Founder of Sage
