London-based business Breezie that runs an innovative service to help the aging population get online, has raised a Series A investment from a strategic US fund, Ziegler Link-Age Longevity Fund (ZLLF). ZLLF is a lead investor in this $3m investment round and joins existing angel investors, including those from the social impact angel network, Clearly Social Angels and CrowdBnk, where Breezie successfully raised £600k from 22 investors.
Getting the elderly socially connected through the Internet and increasing their use of digital technology is becoming an important market in Europe and the US.
Breezie launched last year and has seen its UK revenues grow rapidly through its collaboration with Age UK and also through its pilots in care homes and sheltered housing associations across Britain.
The UK company is one of the first to use modern touch screen devices, smart analytics and accessibility to simplify the online experience for digitally isolated older people. Its innovative solution has caught the attention of several US organisations servicing older people, principal amongst them being an innovative senior living provider called Thrive and a nationwide non-profit called National Council on Aging.
Breezie were also selected in November 2014 to be a part of the Aging 2.0 Academy, the only program of its kind in the world, which is designed to connect, support and accelerate the top start-ups in aging and long-term care.
ZLLF is the lead investor in this round, and is one of the first to focus exclusively on aging market companies that provide innovative products, services and technologies to meet the growing needs of older people and care home providers in this changing era of healthcare reform.
Jeh Kazimi, Founder and CEO of Breezie stated, “It is very exciting to have ZLLF and its Limited Partner network of some of the best and leading senior living providers in the US as an investor. We are excited to provide them excellent solutions and work with the combined expertise of Link-Age and Ziegler to fuel our expansion in the US.”
John Hopper, Chief Investment Officer of ZLLF added, “Breezie is a great company we have followed and gotten to know over the last few years. Jeh and his team provide great solutions and are very well-established in the UK. We are delighted to work with them as they expand into the US, and as they continue to evolve their product offering to add even more value to seniors, their caregivers and families. The team that has been assembled in the UK is one of the leading groups of talent we have seen in this space and we are looking forward to working with them and continuing to innovate and improve the Breezie product offering.”
This round brings the total investment to $7.6m and the company plans to raise a further round of financing towards the end of 2015.
This successful Series A round has translated into a significant increase in the value of the shares held by CrowdBnk investors while it also denoted a major vote of confidence in the company that they own.
We would like to congratulate Breezie for a successful raise and wish Jeh and his team all the best in the future.
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Ayan Mitra is Chief Executive Officer at CrowdBnk, the London-based equity and debt investment platform.
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Please note: The contents of the article are the author's opinion and have not been approved as a financial promotion by Resolution Compliance Limited.
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