The tool sends reminders and checks in with older people to help prolong their independence at home.

Dublin-based health-tech start-up Amethyst Care has bagged €100,000 from Enterprise Ireland’s (EI) dedicated fund for pre-seed start-ups.

Amethyst offers an AI voice assistant specifically designed for elderly people. Developed at EI and Trinity College Dublin’s Adapt centre by Rebecca McManus, the voice tool gives medication reminders and does wellness check-ins to help older people remain independent for longer.

It also helps clinicians collect data on an ongoing basis to help monitor patients’ health in the hopes of catching and resolving issues before a trip to the hospital becomes necessary, the company said.

Amethyst said it wants to address loneliness and isolation – key contributors to hospital re-admissions – while also supporting healthier ageing at home. The fresh funding comes after the company launched an office in Ohio, US.

EI’s Pre-Seed Start Fund offers €50,000 or €100,000 one-time investments to early-stage companies with viable products, a well-identified customer base and a plan to scale. Funding comes alongside 10 sessions with the agency’s panel of mentors.

Last year, EI invested more than €9.5m in pre-seed funding across more than 100 start-ups.

“Problems older people living alone face include loneliness, remembering to take medications on time and cognitive decline,” McManus told SiliconRepublic.com in a 2024 interview. Her solution, she said, is a cheaper alternative to private home care.

McManus has more than a decade of experience in sales across companies such as FlowForma, Citrix and Pluralsight. The 2024-founded Amethyst is also advised by Adapt’s co-founder and former CEO Vincent Wade.

“Our goal is to delay the time in which an older person suffering with mobility-related issues needs to go into full-time care,” McManus said in 2024.

“Along with improving delays in the healthcare system, we hope to use technology to coincide with face-to-face care, to keep vulnerable people at home for longer.”

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