Nationwide makes investments in Vesta Healthcare, KINETIC

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Jan 24, 2020, 10:01 ET

COLUMBUS, Ohio, Jan. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Given the choice between receiving health care in the hospital or their homes, Americans would prefer the latter. A recent study by the Nationwide Retirement Institute revealed that three in four older adults would prefer to receive long-term care in their own homes. As more and more Americans look to in-home health care to serve their long-term care needs, Nationwide is working to make sure patients and in-home health care providers are getting the support they need.

Nationwide's venture capital team has invested in the Series A for Vesta Healthcare, the 24/7 technology and clinical services dedicated to supporting caregivers and connecting their insights to the rest of the care team. The funding comes from Nationwide's $100 million venture capital investment fund.

"Caregivers have a huge impact on a person's ability to live comfortably in retirement. We are thrilled to support Vesta in connecting home caregivers to the clinical environment to create a meaningful impact on people's daily health," says Erik Ross, head of Nationwide's venture capital team. "We see our investment as embodying Nationwide's mission of protecting people, businesses and futures with extraordinary care."

Vesta Healthcare improves health outcomes for seniors with high and rising health needs by connecting in-home caregiver insights, advanced analytics and 24/7 telehealth with the patient's surrounding care team.

"People want to live at home as they age, but too often do not have the support they need to do so safely and comfortably. We support and engage high needs seniors and their caregivers by capturing daily insights and providing timely and personalized information, tools and clinical support. In doing so we provide peace of mind while preventing unnecessary emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and nursing home stays" said Randy Klein, Chief Executive Officer at Vesta Healthcare. "We are delighted to have an experienced, passionate and dedicated investor like Nationwide investing in us who shares our vision of meaningfully impacting people's daily health by creating engaging and supportive tools for caregivers.

While caregiving is emotionally rewarding, the job is difficult. Caregivers spend an average of 40 hours per week caregiving and often have to put their own life on hold.

"Our survey reveals the effects of caregiving include added stress in balancing things (48%), negatively affecting one's own health (23%), putting a strain on their marriage (17%) and even needing to take a leave of absence (10%)," said Kristi Rodriguez, vice president of Thought Leadership for Nationwide. "Caregiving can be intensive and time-consuming. Finding ways to help them do this difficult job is important."

Additionally, Nationwide has partnered with KINETIC, makers of a smart wearable device and software platform designed to reduce workplace injuries, which last year cost U.S. employers almost $60 billion.

"Given the magnitude and cost of the problem, it was surprising to see the lack of technological solutions in the marketplace," says Haytham Elhawary, CEO and co-founder of the KINETIC. "It's not just the injury rates and their accompanying expense that are costing employers. It's everything that comes along with it - the lost workdays, the overtime, rehiring and retraining new employees. There's also the human side of those injuries. My mother worked as a nurse when I was growing up and I remember her suffering multiple injuries while on the job and often coming home in pain. An injury at work affects every aspect of your life and your ability to provide for your family. We're thankful to Nationwide for partnering with us as we work to reduce workplace injuries."

The device helps workers move with better body mechanics by providing real-time feedback in the form of a vibration to the wearer, reinforcing safer body mechanics every time a risky motion occurs. An accompanying dashboard helps managers understand where their next injury might happen, by showing increases in risk by department, time of day or job type.

KINETIC has been successful in reducing OSHA recordable injury rates and lost workdays by 54% and 88% respectively. KINETIC has been deployed to over 21,000 workers at over 150 locations, including six, Fortune 50 companies. Through the Nationwide partnership, they are expecting to dramatically expand their reach.

The Vesta Healthcare and KINETIC announcements are part of Nationwide's commitment to invest more than $100 million of venture capital in customer-centric solutions.

Nationwide's venture capital team has made several recent investments, including: Upstream Security, Socotra, Betterview, Nexar, BlueVine, blooom, Insurify, Next Insurance, Matic and Sure.

Nationwide's innovation journey
In addition to Nationwide's venture capital efforts, the company has implemented other new solutions to meet member needs now and, in the future, including:

In January 2020, Nationwide launched Nimbl by Nationwide, a new app that can help users get out and stay out of debt.
In December 2019, Nationwide opened The Co-Operative - a new innovation center in the Arena District near its Columbus, Ohio-based headquarters.
In September, Nationwide announced the launch of Spire - a simple, easy-to-understand digital auto insurance platform, built on fair and straightforward principles and designed to be convenient and accessible from your phone. Spire is now available for purchase in Texas.

About Vesta Healthcare
Vesta Healthcare is an industry-leading technology and clinical services organization, dedicated to connecting caregiver insights to the rest of the care team. Vesta Healthcare proactively identifies the need for additional resources in the home and provides 24/7 telehealth support for caregivers and care recipients, with a focus on high-need, frail senior populations. Vesta partners with home care agencies, health plans and providers to create value-based population health programs that emphasize clinical quality, improved health outcomes and personalized engagement. Vesta Healthcare is headquartered in New York, NY. To learn more visit www.vestahealthcare.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

About KINETIC
KINETIC is developing the next generation of technology tools to enable a connected industrial workforce. Its smart wearable device and analytics platform reduces workplace injuries and improves productivity for industrial workers. KINETIC is based in NYC and has deployed its product to over 21,000 workers, mostly in the manufacturing and logistics space. Learn more at www.wearkinetic.com

About Nationwide
Nationwide, a Fortune 100 company based in Columbus, Ohio, is one of the largest and strongest diversified insurance and financial services organizations in the United States. Nationwide is rated A+ by both A.M. Best and Standard & Poor's. An industry leader in driving customer-focused innovation, Nationwide provides a full range of insurance and financial services products including auto, business, homeowners, farm and life insurance; public and private sector retirement plans, annuities and mutual funds; excess & surplus, specialty and surety; pet, motorcycle and boat insurance. For more information, visit www.nationwide.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Contact:
Jarrett Dunbar
(614) 249-6349
[email protected]

SOURCE Nationwide