Intuition Robotics Raises $25M to Expand its AI-Driven Elderly Healthcare Platform

AI-driven elderly healthcare platform Intuition Robotics today announced the successful completion of a $25 million funding round. The funding comprises $20 million in venture capital and $5 million in venture debt. 

The round was led by Woven Capital, the growth fund of Toyota, and saw participation from Toyota Ventures, OurCrowd, Western Technology Investment, and other investors. According to the company, the newfound capital will play a pivotal role in propelling the growth trajectory of Intuition Robotics. 

Intuition Robotics asserts that the demand for innovative solutions addressing loneliness experiences a significant upsurge.

The company is best known for ElliQ, its AI care companion designed to combat loneliness and foster healthy, independent living among older adults. ElliQ leverages generative AI and large language models (LLMs) capabilities to offer meaningful companionship and cognitive engagement.

“We aim to continue getting ElliQ into as many homes as possible to spread its benefits to even more older adults. We plan to create more partnerships with governments and aging agencies and are developing more partnerships within the healthcare industry,” Dor Skuler, CEO and co-founder of Intuition Robotics, told Metaverse Post. “With this new funding, we will capitalize on our strong pipeline and fund the growth of our go-to-market activities.”

Tackling Elderly Loneliness by Leveraging Generative AI 

Elderly loneliness is a pressing issue with significant health risks, gaining traction in the U.S. healthcare landscape. Comparable to the impact of smoking 15 cigarettes daily, the U.S. Surgeon General highlights loneliness as a pressing concern requiring intervention. Legislative initiatives are emerging to tackle the surging rates of loneliness and promote social connections on a national level.

Intuition Robotics asserts that its AI-driven product, ElliQ, has effectively positioned itself as a catalyst for change. Prioritizing engagement and well-being, ElliQ aims to address the loneliness problem by providing companionship, cognitive and physical activities, and connections to family and friends.

“The opportunity lies in improving the well-being of older adults, enhancing their social connections, motivating them to lead a more active and engaged lifestyle, and ultimately contributing to their overall health and quality of life,” explained Intuition Robotics’s Skuler. “Our AI conducts daily health check-ins, engages users in cognitive and physical activities, reminds them to take their medication, facilitates connections with family and friends, and offers an intuitive interface for easy interaction.”

According to Intuition Robotics, the product has demonstrated impressive engagement metrics. It averages more than 30 daily interactions and has led to a 95% decrease in loneliness among its users in New York.

Intuition Robotics employs generative AI technologies, including transformers and large language models (LLMs), to cultivate meaningful conversational interactions through ElliQ. 

The company highlights that ElliQ’s LLMs amplify the device’s creative capacity and contextual comprehension, enhancing user responses. Intuition Robotics’s Skuler said these range from soliciting and adapting recipes based on user preferences and ingredients to extending scripted dialogue and proactively generating discussions about user interests, hobbies, and more. 

“We’ve harnessed the latest strides in generative AI to integrate dynamic and continuous conversational interactions into ElliQ. Our ‘painting with ElliQ’ feature incorporates Dall-E integration, transforming user-spoken descriptions into visual artworks,” Skuler told Metaverse Post. “Moreover, we’ve curated an art exhibition showcasing these or these user-generated masterpieces. Once users grant permission to share, their art becomes visible to other ElliQ users.”

Skuler asserts that AI can enhance older adults’ well-being. He underscores its capacity to diminish loneliness and advance health, wellness, and behavioral trends. 

The recently secured funding, he notes, will act as a means for expanding ElliQ’s outreach, refining accessibility, forging deeper partnerships, and concurrently investigating its role within the expansive healthcare framework.

“We firmly believe that sustaining the well-being of older adults within their residences can contribute to reducing healthcare costs,” added Skuler. “By establishing a connection between ElliQ and healthcare providers, users can communicate their state of well-being, discomfort, vital signs and more directly to the provider. This fosters proactive intervention and prevention by offering insights into home dynamics.”