eChart Healthcare Aiming for A Piece of the Multi-Billion-Dollar Long-Term Care Software Market

When Amanda Betts founded eChart Healthcare, she knew exactly who could provide her with expert advice on the long-term care industry: herself.

Amanda and her family operate the Autumn Lee care home. And while care homes have existed for decades, the solution Amanda offers through her company is very much cutting-edge. The software Amanda developed created a way for staff and families to receive information readily available at the point of care with real-time data on things like medication, vitals, meals, activities and even a mood tracker. That led to pilot projects with long-term care facilities and pharmacies, and now a seed investment round.

Amanda’s expertise, combined with a growing market demand and eChart Healthcare’s rapid growth, led us to invest $200,000 in the Fredericton-based company from our Startup Investment Fund, part of an overall round of over $800,000.

We saw this investment opportunity as a particularly obvious one. Across Canada, and especially in New Brunswick, we’re facing an aging population. In fact, according to Statistics Canada, 16.9 per cent of Canadians were aged 65 or older in 2016. In 2024, that’s expected to increase to 20 per cent. That means more people will need the services of a long-term care home in the future. It also means that eChart Healthcare’s software will be more relevant than ever.

“The best technology companies solve a clear and growing problem. That’s what eChart Healthcare does very well with its digital charting system,” says Ray Fitzpatrick, NBIF Director of Investment.

We’ve known Amanda for years; she’s been raising funding for eChart Healthcare for some time and is an active member of New Brunswick’s start-up scene. When she came to us, we were impressed with her company’s early ability to grow and secure customers.

“That was really helpful in getting comfortable around their validity in the market and their ability to sell the product,” says Ray. “Ultimately though, it really came down to the team like it does for all our investments.”

The long-term care software market is expected to grow to US$5.6-billion by 2026. And while we always do our due diligence with every investment to make sure the company has real potential, we feel good about investing in a company that can improve the lives of seniors and their families.

“Moving an aging parent or relative into a long-term care facility is never easy. Our eChart platform is creating connected care that gives families and facilities access to all the important information about a loved one in a simple, easy-to-use way,” says Amanda. “This creates new efficiencies in care delivery and lets the staff of long-term care facilities focus their energies on caring for their residents.”

Our investment will help eChart Healthcare with additional product development as well as sales and marketing activities.