SeniorApp – a mobile application created for people in need

• Pracuj Ventures Fund focused on investments in digital HR area added SeniorApp to their portfolio
• SeniorApp responds to the demographic and market changes; aims to minimise exclusion of seniors and supports them in everyday care

Senior App, the company providing solutions to people who need support in routine care, recently joined the portfolio of the Pracuj Ventures Fund. The mission of the Fund is to support primarily promising, scalable companies operating in the digital HR market in the early stages of their development. Senior App is one of them, and it responds to the needs of a very prospective market.

A company that listens to the market’s needs

Ours is an aging society. Already in 2020, people over the age of 60 accounted for 25.6 percent of the population in numerous countries, and this figure is expected to rise steadily, reaching around 40 percent by 2050. Members of this group will and do require community support, which is why the demand for senior housing in Lincoln and other similar cities and countries has increased significantly.

Honestly, many seniors who have saved quite a good amount of money are ready to pay, which is why they often look for a retirement village where they can get care similar to any well-known nursing home.

But the truth is that not everybody has the liberty to opt for such facilities. That is when the Senior App comes in handy. It provides solutions and services that will ensure that seniors receive the necessary assistance with everyday chores, repairs, dog walking, and other needs they may have. Seniors are an important part of communities, so creating something that can benefit them is necessary.

As time goes on they need care and attention, this may mean putting them into full-time care or having home care workers attend to their needs, however, this can be hard to come by if there are few services like this available, that is why those who want to support seniors may look into something like the best elderly care franchise options so they can be a part of that change. While this might look like a plausible business option to many, people who are generally interested in taking care of the elderly might look at companies who can help with their assisted living building franchise. Whether it be apps or home care, seniors need to know that they are being looked after.

The app was created thanks to the keen observation of changing society and its creators’ personal experiences with the elderly, sick, and infirm. Many aging people declare that they have difficulties finding support. As Przemysław Mroczek, co-founder of SeniorApp told us: ‘It has turned out that it is practically impossible to find such help over the weekend. This prompted us to reflect more deeply on the functioning of the Polish health care system and the possibility of using commercial forms of care.’

The pandemic only made things worse for vulnerable groups. Seniors often feel excluded and simply lonely – without their close ones nearby to keep them company and provide support. COVID-19 also created a feeling of uncertainty in the market. People are now seeking alternative or flexible sources of income and more often turn to solutions provided by the gig economy (offering various services paid by the hour). We talked to Magdalena Trąba and Paweł Leks from Pracuj Ventures. They told us that SeniorApp is a unique solution in the sense that it not only responds to the needs of a growing segment of customers but also reacts to the increasingly popular market trend, where people choose temporary, casual work over a regular full-time job.

What exactly is SeniorApp?

As co-founder Igor Marczak explains, ‘SeniorApp is a mobile application created for people in need, the elderly, the disabled, and their families looking for support in their care. The task of SeniorApp is to build a community of people willing to help others.’

The product has the form of a platform (service marketplace), where people can order certain services either for themselves or for their friends and relatives. The user decides whether he chooses the role of someone seeking or offering help. Service providers can present themselves and decide on their rates, availability, and areas of operation. Customers benefit from the app’s intuitive, easy-to-use interface, and cashless payments. But for the creators, safety was one of the most critical issues. In the end, seniors allow service providers to enter their homes. That’s why user profiles are verified before they become visible on the platform. In fact, Igor Marczak told us that the SeniorApp team would implement modern, alternative methods of guardian authentication in the coming months, ensuring users even greater security.

SeniorApp already operates in the 25 largest Polish cities and is used by 18.000 customers. In the future, the founders plan to enter the remaining 13 cities with over 100.000 inhabitants. Development of app functionalities is also in the pipeline, as is increasing the package of services and expanding areas of services, such as educational, medical, banking, and insurance. Implementation of the vision wouldn’t be possible without the support of Pracuj Ventures, who recognized in SeniorApp the competent and mature team with a progressive way of thinking.