Founded in 2017, Swiss agetech startup CARU develops and markets a smart sensor that can be used in both private homes and care facilities. Controlled by voice commands, its technology can establish a telephone connection, record various room parameters, analyze user behaviour, and detect deviations.
“My co-founder and I were determined to find a problem of the society that fulfilled the following three criteria: 1. It is an issue that affects many people, 2. A technological solution can have a big impact, 3. A solution is urgently needed,” said co-founder Susanne Dröscher in an interview.
The startup has now received funding from the EU’s AAL innovation promotion programme for a research and development project called “CARU cares”, which aims to improve the quality of life of older people through the use of digital technologies. The “CARU cares” project will help Caru to optimize its solution for the B2C market and to open up additional international markets.
Funding for the project totals €2.4 million; half of which comes from public subsidies. The study setting stipulates that the project partners “have a lasting impact on the lives of more than three million older people in CARU’s core market.”
To carry out the project, Caru is partnering with seven partners from three countries: Solothurner Bonacasa AG, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences with the iHomeLab, Johanniter Austria Training and Research GmbH, University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt GmbH, the Vienna University of Economics, the Austrian Schneeweis Wittmann Graphic Design Workshop and the Belgian Senior Living Group NV.
