Private equity firm Growth Catalyst Partners has merged three companies that assist prospective senior living residents and their families under the umbrella of a new senior assistance platform called SilverAssist.
Specifically, the company is combining three recent and strategic acquisitions: Elderlife Financial Services, which provides financial assistance to help residents pay for senior living; Care Changes, a complementary advisory service that helps families find senior communities and care; and FamilyAssets, an information platform centered on providing education, resources and listings to match families with senior living communities and options.
While SilverAssist aims to help connect families and prospective residents with senior living communities, the company’s aim is not to compete directly with A Place For Mom or Caring.com. Instead, the company views those service providers as potential partners.
The newly formed SilverAssist is launching with more than 150 corporate community relationships, spanning 7,000 communities. The platform also directly corresponds with thousands of families every month.
The launch comes on the heels of several recent moves from Growth Catalyst Partners as part of its $270 million “GCP II” fund, through which the company has acquired 11 companies across four platforms. The company has completed more than 65 acquisitions since its founding in 2015.
SilverAssist’s launch is underscored by the dire need for more comprehensive services among senior living residents and their families, and by the demographic tailwinds occurring in the industry with the arrival of the baby boomers, and their longer life expectancies.
Growth Catalyst partnered with tech and digital media veteran Greg Mason to lead SilverAssist’s formation, development and growth. Mason has in the past held senior leadership roles at companies including CNET, CBSInteractive and WebMD.
He also has experience developing service-based brand portfolios that combine information, data and services to help consumers solve problems and connect with products and service providers.
As he looks across the senior living industry, he sees plenty of changes afoot — and that is what makes now the right time to launch SilverAssist.
“We intend to be on the forefront of those changes,” he told Senior Housing News.
Companies featured in this article:
Care Changes, ElderLife Financial, FamilyAssets, Growth Catalyst Partners
