ImpactAlpha, June 12 – When the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic, Helen Adeosun knew it would hit seniors especially hard. Within 10 days, CareAcademy had popped up online classes to help tens of thousands of home-health aides, non-medical caregivers, and personal care aides deliver frontline care for the elderly.
“Home care workers have always been essential workers,” Adeosun told ImpactAlpha. “We’re not training them for new skills, we’re enhancing skills that people are already doing.”
The four-year old startup has certified over 100,000 caregivers to unlock the potential of the under-appreciated homecare professionals.
“CareAcademy is being built around the value of the direct care worker,” said Kesha Casha of Impact America Fund, which led the company’s $9.5 million financing this week.
CareAcademy raises $9.5 million to upskill a generation of caregivers
Adeosun, whose family immigrated from Nigeria, worked as a home-health aide in high school and college before graduating from Notre Dame and Harvard’s Graduate School of Education.
“I come from a long line of women who have tapped into their communities and tapped into their own skill sets and built companies that did well within their respective settings,” she says.
The aging population is driving 8% annual growth in the home healthcare market. CareAcademy’s courses cut training costs for home-care agencies and help caregivers deliver better services. That helps low-wage workers gain in-demand skills, advance in their careers and increase their incomes.
As COVID rages on, Adeosun, and co-founder Madhuri Reddy, have set their sights on upskilling and reskilling one million Americans for healthcare work. “I am the wildest dreams of my ancestors,” she says.