A London startup has grown to 40 staff in just 12 months following launch.
Lottie is a comparison website for care homes and retirement communities. Founded just a year ago by two brothers intent on improving the quality of life for families and their loved ones, it has raised £6 million investment led by prominent US VC General Catalyst which values the business at a cool £45m.
Lottie employs 10 times as many staff as it did in November 2021. Customers and enquiry numbers were up 115% in the three months to the end of June, compared with the previous three-month period between December 2021 and March 2022.
Entrepreneur Chris Donnelly (31) and social care expert Will Donnelly (27), who experienced first-hand the stress of finding the right elderly care for their grandmother, have built a free-to-use digital healthcare marketplace and concierge service that allows care and retirement seekers to locate and compare the UK’s best later life living options at a fair price.
After designing their ideal care package for a client, Lottie distils millions of data points on 2,000 care facilities and 300 independent retirement properties in England on the site to help people find the perfect home that meets their needs, wants and budget.
Establishing himself as one of the UK’s leading social care advisers, Will Donnelly spent five years at CBRE, where he advised on £2.5bn of healthcare transactions, while supporting the NHS during COVID-19.
“COVID-19 has supercharged the move of the later living industry from offline to online, from the initial search process and how care seekers engage with later living communities, through to the adoption of digital care plans and new operational technologies,” he explains.
“As well as assisting families and retirees in making important life decisions, Lottie is now helping our partner communities, both care and retirement, transition to the post COVID-19 digital world.
“Lottie’s operational technology is already being used by hundreds of the UK’s most forward thinking later living providers, which has been fundamental in allowing an improved customer experience, but also delivering better health outcomes for residents, and, in the long-term, will help deliver a sustainable industry which can meet the care needs of our rapidly ageing population.”
Fellow co-founder and Forbes Europe 30 Under 30 alumni, Chris Donnelly, added: “After closing with Kindred in January, we experienced unprecedented demand from funds. The first few months of 2022 have been hugely successful for us, so we decided to bring General Catalyst on by extending the seed round to further support our growth in the industry.”
Lottie has also previously received backing from the likes of Monzo founder Tom Blomfield and Lendable co-founder Victoria van Lennep.
Chris Bischoff, leader of healthcare investment for General Catalyst, will join Lottie’s board as part of the investment.