A trade group for long-term care providers and an Ohio-backed investment organization have formed a venture capital initiative that will invest in startups that develop technologies to help people as they age.
The group is called Linkage Ventures and was created by Linkage, a nonprofit made up of 600 senior living communities in 39 states, and state-backed CincyTech, according to a joint statement.
The aim of Linkage Ventures is to identify, evaluate and invest in early stage technologies that startups can take to market to benefit the aging population directly or through care-giving organizations.
The thinking is that Linkage’s members will be a good source of dealflow to the new venture because they’re frequently approached with ideas or products that could help their employees or long-term care residents. CincyTech, with its access to public and private funds, could then invest in these new products or ideas along with Linkage Ventures.
“It’s not just the investment,” said Linkage Ventures CEO Scott Collins in the statement. “We’ve got the domain expertise internally, and we can do quick beta testing that marries well with the CincyTech network and expertise.”
A representative from Linkage didn’t immediately return a call.
