According to the company, the fresh funds will be used to establish the initial team and facilitate the launch of the app. GenWise will launch as an exclusive and invite-only community for early adopters.
Matrix’s investment comes a week after the VC announced the close of its fourth fund with a corpus of $550 million as against the initial plan of raising $450 million to invest in early-stage startups in India. This is Matrix’s largest India-dedicated fund to date.
“In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, senior family members were compelled to adopt technology. However, most existing applications fall short in catering to their distinct needs. We are excited to partner with them as they build GenWise, a platform to bridge generational gaps through a shared social platform,” said Siddharth Agarwal, Principal, Matrix Partners India.
According to the company, the fresh funds will be used to establish the initial team and facilitate the launch of the app. GenWise will launch as an exclusive and invite-only community for early adopters. As the app gains traction, the team will roll out additional features and widen its reach to a larger audience, the statement added.
“GenWise embodies our collective vision to develop a lifestyle app that not only empowers the elderly but also bridges the prevailing digital gap between generations, that we witnessed within our own families. We strongly believe that age should not be a barrier for anyone to leverage the potential of going digital and its various possibilities,” said Rajat Jain, Co-Founder, GenWise.
The startup offers a variety of features across wellness, digital literacy, financial management and social engagement for the older generation. These include a personal digital assistant, a streamlined digital passbook, timely reminders for medication and engaging tools to socialise.
