“It was very eye opening to see how Blooming Health, Nima and team were able to really look at how to improve those efficiencies; what are the roadblocks; what are the perceptions around benefits specifically, and so forth. And the reach. What we're always looking for is scale...All our programs at the Foundation are meant to serve older adults nationally. To be able to say, do you have the potential to scale this? And [the answer to] that's been a resounding yes!”
– Paolo Narciso, VP of Product and Program Development and Optimization at AARP Foundation
Can startups help to end senior poverty and enable dignified aging in place?
In this week's episode, we chat with VentureFuel Visionaries, Paolo Narciso, VP of Product and Program Development and Optimization at AARP Foundation, and Nima Roohi, Co-Founder and CEO of Blooming Health. They share how their collaboration reduced friction, overcame barriers, and drove impressive results such as a 500% increase in enrollment, 82,000 engagements, and staff time reduction from 57 days to 30 days. All as part of the AARP Foundation Innovation Program.
Paolo Narciso is a social entrepreneur/technologist with over 36 years of leading companies in the Healthcare, Financial Services, Technology, and Government sectors to drive innovation, new product development, and scale. He is also a 3x Ironman finisher, fly fisherman, writer, and life-long learner, who believes we can eradicate poverty in our lifetime.
AARP Foundation works and aims to end senior poverty by helping vulnerable older adults build economic opportunity and social connectedness. In 2021, VentureFuel ran the AARP Foundation Innovation Program, looking for emerging startups that could help AARP Foundation in its mission.
Nima Roohi is passionate about the intersection of technology and healthcare and eventually co-founded Blooming Health. They help senior care organizations overcome the barrier to effective remote engagement with their older adult populations to enable aging in place by providing a proven solution utilizing an omnichannel, multi-language platform—resulting in increased engagement by older adults.
To learn more about the AARP Foundation Innovation Program Click Here
VentureFuel builds and accelerates innovation programs for industry leaders by helping them unlock the power of External Innovation via startup collaborations.
