Google Assistant Investment Program Invests in Aiva Health

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Today, Aiva Health announced an investment from the Google Assistant Investment Program -- the program’s first foray into healthcare. The Los Angeles-based startup will use the capital to accelerate development and deployment of its groundbreaking voice operating system for better care.​Aiva uses Google Home, Amazon Echo and other smart speakers to not only engage and empower patients and seniors, but also to connect them more closely to their caregivers. The voice OS is built on a suite of enterprise applications -- a mobile app for caregivers to manage help requests, a dashboard for performance reporting, and a backend for controlling the voice assistants’ settings and their interaction with other IoT smart devices like TVs, lights and thermostats.

“Voice is the new mobile for delivering better healthcare,” said Sumeet Bhatia, Aiva’s Founder/CEO. “We’re thrilled to be working with the Google Assistant Investments team to help expand our offerings and improve care for people who need it the most.”

The Program was established this Spring to boost digital startups pushing the boundaries of voice technology.

“Google Assistant is already giving millions of people easier access to information, more entertainment options and better control over their environment,” said Google Assistant Investment Program lead and Dialogflow founder Ilya Gelfenbeyn. “It’s exciting to see Aiva pushing the technology even further, using voice to improve vital human interactions like caregiving.”

Aiva’s other investors include Act One Ventures, Mucker Capital, Techstars and the Cedars-Sinai Accelerator Powered by Techstars.

Aiva helps at hospitals, physician offices, skilled nursing facilities, senior communities -- and in the home, where many more people are choosing to age in place.

For seniors, voice assistants don’t just engage them in their residences; they also connect them with friends, family and neighbors through hands-free phone and video calls, alleviating loneliness. Perhaps most importantly, the assistants remind seniors about events, outings and activities, making life more fun and social.