K4Connect’s first product, K4Community, is specifically designed to serve the residents, staff and operators of senior living communities.

 

RALEIGH, N.C., Oct. 23, 2018 — K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, announced today a $12 million Series B round of funding led by AXA Venture Partners. This latest round brings the funding total to over $22 million and will be used to further develop the Company’s K4Community solution and underlying Fusion platform/OS technologies. K4Connect will also use the proceeds to expand its customer base, which already includes over 13,000 residents across dozens of senior living communities from Florida to California, as well as to accelerate its partnerships across a spectrum of consumer and senior living-specific companies. The funding follows a year of record growth for K4Connect, which tripled its revenues and expanded its team by 40%.

K4Connect’s first product, K4Community, is specifically designed to serve the residents, staff and operators of senior living communities. Integrating the latest in smart home, smart wellness and smart living technologies into a single easy-to-use system, K4Community makes any senior living community a truly Smart Community. K4Community brings together a plethora of advanced device, application and service technologies, making them accessible through both touch and voice technologies. In addition to being a ground-breaking amenity for senior community residents, K4Community also provides community staff and operators with the tools and data to provide the best in care and hospitality, as well as drive a measurable ROI through operational efficiencies and lowered costs.

“We’re honored to have an organization such as AXA Venture Partners lead our latest round of funding. We have been extremely fortunate to have a set of investor advocates who not only wholly support our mission, but also bring significant strategic value,” said F. Scott Moody, Chief Member Advocate, Co-founder and CEO of K4Connect. “Very few companies understand the health and insurance markets, both nationally and globally, as well as AXA. Their support will allow us to not only grow in the United States, but expand internationally as well. We look forward to working with them to expand the market for our first product, K4Community, as well as other planned products.”

Core to K4Connect’s success is its patented Fusion platform/OS, a multi-modal software platform that acts as an enterprise-wide “operating system” that provides a secure and reliable edge-cloud hybrid architecture. Employing an open and modular design, Fusion allows for the integration of virtually any device (home or wellness), service or application into a single cohesive system. In addition to K4Community, future products that will take advantage of the Company’s Fusion technologies include K4Home, designed for older adults living in their own homes, and K4HomeCare, designed for care agencies.  

“The health and well-being of the world’s aging population is a key focus for us,” said Manish Agarwal, a General Partner with AXA Venture Partners. “We’ve looked at a number of impressive technologies designed specifically for older adults over the years, yet K4Connect is the first company we’ve seen that can bring all these disparate technologies together into a single solution, not only for the senior living community operators, but also for the residents and their families. We’re excited about partnering with the K4Connect team, including all their prior investor advocates, to find new ways to bring the Company’s current and future solutions to the one billion people they hope to serve around the world.” 

Joining AXA Venture Partners, the venture fund backed by the world’s second largest financial services company, are Intel Capital, Intel’s strategic investment organization, which led the Series A round, and Sierra Ventures, a premier Silicon Valley-based venture firm, which led K4Connect’s Seed Round of funding. Previous investors that also joined this round include: Stonehenge Growth Equity, Revolution Ventures’ Rise of the Rest Seed Fund, Traverse Venture Partners, Better Ventures and RGAX, LLC, a subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America.

Dr. Agarwal will join K4Connect’s board of directors, working alongside Dr. Ben Yu from Sierra Ventures, Dave Johnsonfrom Intel Capital, Steve Lux from Stonehenge Growth Equity, Terri Novak, the former COO of Kisco Senior Living, and Scott Moody.

Ranked as the 8th Largest Single Campus CCRC in the Nation, Westminster Plans to Deploy the K4Community Solution to Assisted and Independent Living Apartments

 

Raleigh, N.C. and Richmond, Va. – September 11, 2018 – K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company that creates connected-life solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, today announced the expansion of its customer network, welcoming Westminster Canterbury Richmond.  Westminster is one of the largest non-profit single-campus senior living communities in the U.S. as ranked by the LeadingAge Ziegler.

Further enhancing Westminster Canterbury Richmond’s award-winning hospitality, care and culture of innovation, K4Connect will implement K4Community in more than 800 independent and assisted senior living residences throughout the 50-acre campus. Residents will now be able to enjoy responsive living environments including lighting and HVAC in their new smart apartments, as well as communicate with loved ones and other community members, and stay up to date with the latest events, dining, and community news – all through an easy to use application designed specifically for older adults.

“At Westminster Canterbury, we are committed to providing superior services that improve the lives of those we serve every day and empower our residents to live life well,” said John Burns, President and CEO of Westminster Canterbury Richmond. “When we learned about K4Community and how it could positively impact the longevity economy, there was no doubt in our minds that we would deploy it throughout our community. It adds real value to our residents and staff.”

K4Community integrates the latest in smart home automation, connected health and wellness products, as well as social engagement services, to enhance the lives of senior community residents. For operators and staff, K4Community provides in-depth community management and analytics tools that enable them to streamline workflows, improve communication and reduce rework, ultimately helping to deliver the very best in care and hospitality.

“We’re super excited to partner with Westminster Canterbury Richmond as they continue to provide award-winning service and care to their residents,” commented F. Scott Moody, Co-founder and CEO of K4Connect. “There is no doubt the two organizations share a common mission to serve and I have no doubt that with the help of technology, residents will enjoy more independent lives, as well as deeper connections with family, friends and other residents.”

In addition to the smart home automation and communication features, Westminster Canterbury Richmond will be deploying the K4Community Content Management Module (CMM), K4Connect’s new content creation, management and publishing platform that simplifies the way senior living community staff creates, manages and shares content. The CMM dramatically improves resident access to real-time events and information through digital signage and in-room TV.  This provides more engagement opportunities for residents and streamlines staff processes, allowing for “build once, publish everywhere” capabilities, and reducing the cost of using multiple systems.

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To learn more about K4Connect and K4Community, visit www.k4connect.com

To learn more about Westminster Canterbury Richmond, visit www.wcrichmond.org

 

 

Newest release of K4Connect’s flagship solution, K4Community, includes innovative smart health and wellness technologies along with new time-saving integrations for staff

 

K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company that creates technology solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, today announced a number of enhancements to its flagship solution, K4Community. The latest updates to this state-of-the-art solution expand on previous versions with a special focus on streamlining staff workflows and reducing rework.

Built specifically for the senior living industry, K4Community is a single system that serves the needs of residents, their families and friends, staff, and community operators. Leveraging K4Connect’s patented K4LifePlatform, K4Community, brings together all aspects of a senior living community – from menus and event calendars, to smart home automation, community management and analytics – into a singular application that can be accessed via mobile device, tablets or desktop computers.

K4Community 2.1 is the company’s third major release of 2018, highlighting the value of an open platform. Advanced product integrations and new user enhancements including:

Create and Publish in a Single Application

Gone are the days of switching between various tools to create community assets (calendars, menus, flyers, etc.), duplicating data entry through multiple tools, or having out of sync information across all your content systems (web, print, digital tv, etc.). With K4Community 2.1, community staff are able to create, print and digitally share community content and assets across multiple systems including digital signage, resident TV’s, print, smart phones, laptops and tablets using a single solution designed specifically for senior living. This solution introduces the power of branded templates to speedup creation and improves consistency, and powerful scheduling technology which allows creators to ‘set it and forget it.’ K4Community’s new Content Creation and Publishing tool introduces a whole new way of creating and publishing content: one that is fun, creative, flexible and collaborative.

Save Time With Automated Morning Check In

The latest version of K4Community allows senior living teams to automate the morning check in process, augmenting a timely, error prone, and manual process while providing increased independence for older adults in senior living communities. K4Community’s Automated Morning Check-in provides a passive morning check-in functionality leveraging smart home technology.

Smart Scales and Blood Pressure Cuffs Enhance Resident Wellness

Building on K4Community’s fitness and sleep tracking solutions, Version 2.1 expands the connected wellness capabilities to include smart blood pressure cuffs and smart scales. These new products along with existing solutions provide the industry’s most comprehensive, integrated connected wellness solution allowing residents to stay active while managing their health.

“We’re excited to introduce the latest version of K4Community, and to continue our mission of providing our nation’s older adults with technology built specifically for them,” said F. Scott Moody, Co-Founder, CEO and Chief Member Advocate of K4Connect. “The recent advancements of K4Community will not only empower older adults to live more independent and healthier lives, but will enable senior living communities to provide state-of-the-art care to their residents while lowering costs.”

K4Community 2.1 is currently being deployed to thousands of senior living residents and their families across the United States.

Kuldip Pabla brings decades of Silicon Valley experience to bolster Company’s technology leadership in serving older adults and those living with disabilities.

 

K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company that creates connected-life solutions for older adults and those living with disabilities, announced today that Kuldip Pabla has joined the company as the Senior Vice President of Engineering. In his role, Pabla will oversee the continued development of K4Community, the Company’s solution designed specifically for and with the residents and staff of senior living communities worldwide, as well as future solutions planned for the home.

“We’re thrilled to have Kuldip join our team at K4Connect. His extensive experience – specifically in applied AI, voice, IoT, and edge computing – will help us further enhance our technology and improve the lives of all those we serve. In his role, Kuldip will be charged with technologically leading us to the next phase of our vision as we move from the idea of using technology to enable a ‘connected-life’ to harnessing the latest technologies to foster more of a ‘responsive-life’,” said F. Scott Moody, K4Connect co-founder, CEO, and Chief Client Advocate.

Pabla brings more than 20 years of experience in the technology industry, working with both startups and global companies alike. Most recently, Pabla served as the Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Cooldimi, an applied AI startup focused on building an intelligent systems platform. Prior to Cooldimi, Pabla was the Head of Innovations and Cloud Platform Engineering at CloudCar, a connected car PaaS startup. In addition, Pabla previously served as the Senior Director of Innovations and Engineering at Samsung’s Cloud Services Innovation Lab and as part of the managed cloud solutions team at Yahoo!. He started his career at Sun Microsystems and Sun Labs holding numerous engineering and management positions. Pabla is also the author of over 50 patents covering a breadth of technology innovations.

“The technology that the team at K4Connect has created is truly impressive. I’m looking forward to leveraging my expertise to help the Company add to its extensive portfolio of patents and innovations,” said Pabla. “I’m thrilled to be joining such a committed and talented team that is truly focused on serving populations that have been so often unserved when it comes to the latest in technology.”

Pabla holds a BS in Physics and an MS in Computer Science from Gujarat University. He also completed the Engineering Leadership Professional Program from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.

In addition to bringing K4Community’s smart home, connected wellness and social communications capabilities to residents, Avamere will also be implementing K4Connect’s new Content Management and Digital Signage Module.

 

Raleigh, N.C. and Wilsonville, OR – June 26, 2018 – The Avamere Family of Companies, a leader in senior living and post-acute care services, and K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, today announced a new technology partnership. The companies will work together to bring K4Community, K4Connect’s flagship senior living solution, to The Avamere Family of Companies.

“We’re continually looking for partners that will enhance the elite care we provide to each individual we serve. Collaborating with K4Connect allows us to bring the latest technology to our residents and staff, today and into the future, further building upon our proven track record of innovation,” said Ryan Haller, Vice President of Growth and Development for The Avamere Family of Companies. “We’re truly excited to get this partnership up and running.”

“K4Connect is committed to serving those underserved by technology – older adults and those living with a disability. Partnering with forward-thinking organizations such as Avamere is core to our mission to serve and empower these populations,” said F. Scott Moody, Co-Founder, CEO and Chief Member Advocate of K4Connect. “We have seen our technology improve the lives of the people who use it firsthand. We’re thrilled to be working together with a thought leader like Avamere to integrate our technology into their communities and bring our technology to the Pacific Northwest.”

K4Community integrates the latest in smart home automation, connected health and wellness products, social engagement tools, and on demand services to enhance the lives of senior community residents. Residents are able to manage multiple aspects of their lives – including their smart living environments, connections with loved ones and other community members, stay up to date with the latest events, dining, and community news and their health via connected wellness products and applications – all through a native (smartphone, tablet and desktop) application designed specifically for older adults. For operators and staff, K4Community provides in-depth management and analytics tools that further enable them to deliver the very best in service and hospitality. By streamlining workflows, improving communication, reducing printing costs, and alleviating rework, K4Community allows communities to optimize and enhance their business processes.

In addition to bringing K4Community’s smart home, connected wellness and social communications capabilities to residents, Avamere will also be implementing K4Connect’s new Content Management and Digital Signage Module (CMM). The content creation, management and publishing platform, allows community staff to easily create, manage, and share content using a singular system. The CMM greatly improves resident access to real-time information and simplifies publishing for community staff.

For more information on K4Connect, please visit K4Connect.com

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About Avamere Family of Companies:
Founded in 1995, Avamere began with a single community in Hillsboro, Oregon. Today Avamere employs over 7,300 people in 15 states. The company is comprised of Avamere Living, which operates independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing and transitional care facilities; Signature Hospice, Home Health, Home Care, which specialized in home-based services and primary and palliative care; and Infinity Rehab, which provides contract rehabilitation and outpatient therapy. www.Avamere.com

 

Company’s First Solution, K4Community, Now Exceeds 2 Million Home Automation Interactions as Use of Technology Enables More Independent & Comfortable Living Environments for the Older Adults the Company Serves

 

K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company that creates solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, and those who support them, today announced that its flagship connected-life solution, K4Community, designed specifically for the residents and operators of senior living communities, has managed over 2 million unique Home Automation/Internet of Things (IoT) interactions. Through these interactions, older adults in senior communities are living safer, more independent and comfortable lives through the automation provided by smart home devices.

The more than 2 million IoT interactions are from two distinct categories: responsive (nearly 1.2 million) and digital (over 1 million). “Responsive IoT interactions” occur automatically, helping to make life simpler and safer for residents through motion or time triggered lighting and temperature adjustments. In addition, these interactions allow community staff to potentially identify possible safety issues, such as alerting staff to preventative maintenance opportunities. The “digital interactions” are initiated by residents who are specifically using the K4Community mobile (smartphone or tablet) application. Digital interactions are proof that older adults will use technology that is designed for them, as they occur when a resident adjusts their thermostat or turns on their lights via their mobile device (tablet or phone).

These environmental-focused devices are just the beginning in terms of smart home automation for senior living. More and more K4Community customers are looking to expand smart building technology to include home access controls, smart ceiling fans, smart blinds, and various building monitoring sensors such as water leak detection.

“We’re continuing to see increased adoption of K4Community and the acceptance of IoT technology at senior living communities around the country,” said Jonathan Gould, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at K4Connect. “The growing number of interactions with our IoT solution is a true testament to how much older adults really do enjoy using technology – technology that is built specifically for them – which is helping them lead more independent lives. While home automation devices are a convenience or even novelty for some, for those we serve, these capabilities are of true value.”

K4Community integrates smart home automation, health and wellness devices and social engagement features into one easy to use system for older adults. The solution effectively enables senior living residents to manage multiple aspects of their lives while providing community staff and operators with communication, management and analytics tools that enable the best in care and hospitality.

The development of K4Community is an ongoing process that includes research in senior living communities, partnerships with device manufacturers and continuous improvement based upon direct feedback from older adults and operators. Currently, K4Community is being used by thousands of independent and assisted living residents, staff, and operators around the country and is one of the fastest growing solutions in the emerging senior technology industry.

For more information on K4Connect, please visit K4Connect.com

 

K4Community’s connected-life technology integrates home automation, as well as health and social engagement features into a single solution.

 

RALEIGH, N.C., May 18, 2018 – K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company, announced today that it has broadened its partnership with HHHunt’s Senior Living which owns and manages Spring Arbor assisted living communities throughout the Mid-Atlantic. The expanded partnership will bring K4Connect’s revolutionary senior living solution, K4Community, to two new Spring Arbor communities in Maryland, increasing the total Spring Arbor implementations to 11 communities.

The two new Maryland communities, Spring Arbor Crofton and Spring Arbor Frederick, are currently under construction and expected to open in mid-2018 and early 2019 respectively.  Once open, K4Community will be available to upwards of 300 Spring Arbor residents, as well as family and friends. The expansion builds on the success of K4Community across various Spring Arbor locations where teams have seen increased resident engagement, improved market differentiation and streamlined operations for activities and care teams.

“We couldn’t be more excited to continue to grow our partnership with K4Connect,” said Richard Williams, Senior Vice President of HHHunt’s Senior Living division. “Our residents have truly embraced the technology, which has added great value to their daily lives. Based on its popularity in our other communities, there was no doubt that we would build K4Community into our newest senior living communities right from the start.”

K4Community’s connected-life technology integrates home automation, as well as health and social engagement features into a single solution. Now resident’s apartments are responsive to their needs (often automatically turning on lights or adjusting temperatures), while also allowing them to stay more engaged with their fellow residents, family and friends -– all via an easy-to-use application. Moreover, K4Community provides senior living staff in-depth management and analytics tools that further enable them to provide the very best in care and hospitality.

“It has been amazing to see how Spring Arbor residents have welcomed our technology into their lives. We have always known that if technology is built for them, older adults will be more inclined to use it – and that’s just what we’ve seen with residents at these communities,” said F. Scott Moody, Co-Founder, CEO and Chief Member Advocate of K4Connect. “Since our partnership with HHHunt’s Senior Living division began, we have continuously seen an adoption rate of 100% for K4Community’s home automation features, and daily tablet usage has increased significantly among residents.”

Updates include a new expandable concierge service, user experience enhancements, and solutions to streamline staff workflows

 

K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company that creates connected-life solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, and those who support them, today announced the most significant release of its flagship product to date, K4Community. Making the complex simple, K4Community integrates virtually every aspect of a senior living community into a single system, serving the needs of the residents, their families, staff and operator.

At its core, K4Community enables residents to manage multiple aspects of their lives through an easy to use application designed specifically for, and with, older adults. Moreover, K4Community provides senior living staff in-depth management and analytics tools that further enable them to provide the very best in care and hospitality.

“Our company’s mission has always been to improve the lives of the individuals we serve – older adults and people living with a disability – as well as those that share our mission including community staff and operators. The direct feedback we’ve received from both residents, staff and operators has helped shape the newest version of K4Community,” said F. Scott Moody, Co-founder and CEO of K4Connect. “We believe this is the most advanced technology on the market. We know that when technology is built for, and with, older adults, they are more eager and likely to engage with it, as it brings real value to their lives. We’re thrilled to bring Version 2.0 of K4Community to the communities we work with and look forward to its continued growth.”

Version 2.0 of K4Community builds upon the senior industry’s most advanced technology platform through new features and integrations:

• A New Standard in Senior Accessibility– The most noticeable update is the redesigned K4Community user interface. Residents, family and friends will see optimized graphics, photos and icons, allowing for a more interactive and convenient user experience. These improvements surpass WAG’s 2.0 AA standards, making K4Community a leader in accessibility.

• Your Personal Smart Assistant – The new omnipresent smart assistant in K4Community provides help videos and one-touch connectivity to the K4Connect customer support team. Using a contextual help engine, K4Community now generates customized user content and “how to” capabilities, making it easier than ever for residents to navigate in the application and learn new features.

• Services On Demand – K4Community now offers an open, digital concierge for senior living, directly connecting older adults with the services they need. In the future, this advanced, extensible service will allow for integrations to be added to K4Community – such as transportation, healthcare and more. The first of these is an integration with TheWorxHub by Dude Solutions, and allows residents to submit and track maintenance requests with one-click.

• The End of Staff Rework– New integrations minimize paperwork and data input, streamlining staff workflows to help reduce redundant work, ultimately allowing staff to spend more time engaging with and caring for residents.

• Build Once Publish Everywhere – K4Connect’s recently announced an add-on module, the K4Community Content Management Module (CMM), which reinvents content capabilities for the benefit of residents, community staff and operators. Digital signage and in-room TV provide more engagement opportunities for residents and help staff streamline processes for managing events and reducing the costs of using multiple systems.

• Supercharged Search – There’s an entirely new way to search and sort information in the K4Community staff dashboard, making it easier than to sort and find community news, events and resources.

• The Power of the Platform – These newest enhancements to K4Community build upon K4Connects’s existing K4LifePlatform that integrates software and hardware to create a product that merges smart home automation, communication, social engagement and health and wellness tracking for those the company serves.

“From the beginning, K4Community was designed with its users and our residents in mind. Our residents were expressing a desire to be able to more easily connect with their community peers,” says Ray Tierney, Chief Operating Officer at Masonic Villages. “The K4Connect team listened and, in a short timeframe, have created a solution which I am sure residents will love. We’ve seen firsthand how important communication can be, especially given our large campuses. The new communication enhancements will be a game changer for our residents.”

The latest version of K4Community is available now and is currently being rolled out to senior living communities across the United States. K4Community is available on iOS, Android (smartphones/tablets), Windows and macOS.

 

Novak brings unparalleled knowledge to the Company’s Board with more than 30 years of experience and innovation in the senior living and service industries

K4Connect, a mission-centered technology company creating solutions that serve and empower older adults and individuals living with disabilities, today announced the election of Terri Novak to the Company’s Board of Directors. Until recently, Novak was the Chief Operating Officer of Kisco Senior Living, which owns and operates 22 senior living communities across seven states. Novak joins Ben Yu, Ph.D., Managing Director at Sierra Ventures, and Steve Lux, Managing Director of Stonehenge Growth Equity Partners, as well as co-founders F. Scott Moody (Chairman/CEO) and Jonathan Gould (CTO), on K4Connect’s Board.

“We could not be more pleased to have Terri join our team at K4Connect and look forward to her many contributions,” said Moody. “Terri is a highly respected leader in the senior living industry, not only because of her service orientation, but the continuous focus on innovation she brought to Kisco and the industry as a whole. There is no doubt that Kisco has established itself as a leader in the market and no less doubt that Terri was a very big part of that,” Moody added. “Terri epitomizes the team we are building here at K4Connect, combining senior living experience, technology and innovation to improve the lives of the 1.5 billion people we serve worldwide.”

Novak brings over 30 years of management experience in a variety of service industries, including over 24 years in senior housing. For the past 18 years, Novak served as the Chief Operating Officer at Kisco Senior Living where she was responsible for the management of all of Kisco Senior Living communities, including independent, congregate, assisted living, home care and continuum of care campuses (CCRC). As a member of Kisco’s senior leadership team, Novak led the day-to-day operations and was responsible for developing and refining programs that led to the continuous improvement of resident care and hospitality, as well as overall financial performance and leadership development. As a result of her leadership, Kisco expanded from 1,160 to over 4,500 residential units in communities across seven states. She continues to serve Kisco in her “retirement” as the Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer and is responsible for working with senior management to help further grow the company, while focusing on future needs of customers. Prior to Kisco Senior Living, Novak served as the Vice President of Operations at the Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, an operator of 18 CCRCs throughout Kansas and Missouri.

“I am truly excited to be a member of the board and part of the team at a company such as K4Connect,” said Novak. “From the first time I met the team at K4Connect, I was not only impressed with their focus on innovation and technology, but their mission-centered approach towards serving older adults and people living with disabilities. I have no doubt that technology will be critical to serving seniors in the future, and this is a company at the forefront of a whole new paradigm of serving older adults, not only as part of senior living communities, but also in their own homes.”

Novak earned her Associate BS Degree in Health Care Administration, a BS in Human Resources Management, and an MBA from Friends University. In addition, Novak is a certified California Awards for Performance Excellence (CAPE) Examiner, a state program that mirrors the Baldrige National Quality Program. She has served as an instructor at Erickson’s School of Business, served as a California Assisted Living Association (CALA) Board Member, and has been a guest speaker at numerous national conferences and Universities including USC School of Gerontology.