An Orange-based company that created a tablet for seniors is partnering with a ride-share service. GrandPad Inc. partnered with San Francisco-based Lyft so the latter can provide rides for seniors.
GrandPad is a tablet device designed to make communications for seniors simpler and safer. Features include video calling and one-touch voice email.
The company uses a subscription service model, charging a monthly or annual fee that includes the tablet, internet use, games and other features. It costs about $60 per month, per user.
The partnership will make it easy for seniors and their caretakers to request rides, allowing seniors to have greater independence and freedom, said Kerry Burnight, who works with grandPad as its chief gerontologist. She was the co-founder and director of the nation’s first Elder Abuse Forensic Center in Orange.
Lyft will integrate with grandPad in two ways—as a concierge service and as a self-service. The former will enable a senior to connect with grandPad’s U.S.-based customer care team, which will handle all arrangements for the ride. The self-serve mode enables a senior to request a ride directly from the grandPad device.
GrandPad also recently purchased airtime for a commercial that will run from Oct. 30 through Dec. 10 on networks including CNN, Fox News and Game Show Network. The company didn’t disclose how much it spent on the ad buy.
Scott Lien, who serves as chief executive, and his son, Isaac Lien, who serves as head of product, founded the company in 2014. The privately held company does not disclose revenue.
Last year, grandPad sold an equity stake to Acer Inc. in Taiwan, one of the largest PC makers. Acer exchanged $11 million in preferred stock for about 49% of the company, the Business Journal reported.
GrandPad received an early $1 million investment from Irvine-based Tech Coast Angels, and has raised a total of $13.1 million, according to the company.
Winners, Winners
Lori Torres, chief executive of Irvine-based Parcel Pending, and Nazli Azimi of Irvine-based Bioniz Therapeutics, are two of 13 entrepreneurs admitted into a “prestigious” executive education program, the EY Entrepreneurial Winning Women 2017 North America class. It’s an annual competition that identifies high-potential female entrepreneurs in the U.S. and Canada who are seeking to scale their businesses, and then helps them do it. Program participants are among the top 2% of all female-led businesses in terms of company revenue, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Parcel Pending is an international provider of package management for apartment complexes. Bioniz is a biotech company that develops drugs to treat autoimmune diseases and cancer.
The 13 members of the class will receive an all-expense paid trip to the EY Strategic Growth Forum, an invitation-only gathering of more than 2,000 executives representing high-growth companies in Palm Springs.
Springs Launches Hedge Fund
An Irvine-based hedge fund that focuses on digital assets in the form of cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, launched last month. Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency that was introduced to the global market in 2009.
Portola Springs Capital LP is a hedge fund founded by Motasem Benothman, who serves as the managing member of Portola Springs Capital Management LLC, the general partner of the issuer, according to a Form D filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The offering is not registered with the SEC due to exemption eligibility, Benothman said.
Portola Springs Capital is starting with a fund of $2 million raised by private investors in Benothman’s network. The fund is focused on holdings of digital assets that have growth potential over the long term. Benothman said he intends for the fund to have a small exposure—less than 25% of assets under management—to initial coin offerings, or ICOs. An ICO is an initial public offering or crowdfunding-style campaign where supporters of the project send digital money, such as bitcoin—or in some cases use credit cards—to a website run by the company and then receive digital tokens in return.
In July, the SEC ruled that some of the currencies for sale are actually securities and therefore subject to the agency’s regulation.
Benotham’s goals for the Portola Springs Fund are to exceed $3 million in assets under management and invest a portion in an ICO, presale. There are ICOs that are open to the public, but some offer a private presale. An ICO presale is similar to a Series B or C funding round, and the ICO is then like an IPO.
There are more than 800 different cryptocurrencies, according to various news reports. As of mid-October, the total crypto market cap is at $87 billion, according to the reports.
In April, the Business Journal profiled three local companies involved with blockchain, a database that enables the creation of a digital ledger. Two involve bitcoin.
