Influx of Silicon Valley Execs Cashing In on Senior Care Tech

Driven by the aging challenges faced by their parents, a number of tech executives have left positions at prominent Silicon Valley companies, like Google, to create a flurry of new startups and apps dedicated to elder care.

And the trend doesn’t appear to be slowing down, suggests an article from re/code, especially as more entrepreneurs look to use their experience to cash in on aging tech services.

Many of these individuals fit into the “sandwich generation,” or those who are simultaneously caring for their aging parents and their own children.

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Experiences of helping an aging loved one living with one or more chronic conditions have largely prompted many entrepreneurs’ shift into healthcare technologies.

One of those people is Stephanie Tilenius, Google’s former commerce chief, who now heads a company called Vida, a mobile app that allows patients to consult with a team of healthcare professionals from their smartphones.

After leaving Google in 2012, Tilenius started her company following the experiences of her father, who eventually died from heart disease, and who could not afford medical consultations that could have helped him lose weight and manage stress.

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“There was a total lack of resources on my parents’ side,” Tilenius told re/code.

But Tilenius is but one of the few Silicon Valley expats to venture off on new projects focused on healthcare tech.

Others to follow in similar footsteps include fellow Google employee Munjal Shah and Suneel Gupta, Groupon’s former product development chief, among several others including former U.S. Chieft Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra, who co-founded a startup called Hunch Analytics.

Read more at re/code.

Written by Jason Oliva

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