TriBeCa Care is a Promising Startup for Home and Elder Care

By Sourav Agarwal

Posted on October 18, 2016

These days I do shop and order food online every now and then no matter where we are. It has become a common activity in our everyday lives. The role of technology in facilitating the pace of life by streamlining our daily needs is not limited to online shopping and food ordering. Technology has even brought personalized healthcare solutions out of typical hospitals to our doorsteps. It has been made possible by technological startups like TriBeCa Care.

Among Kolkata-based startups, TriBeCa Care is a professional home healthcare startup. It delivers affordable personalized care to patients in the comfort of their own homes and facilitates faster recovery in a known environment outside of a hospital setting. It provides emotional companionship for the lone elderly, specialty home care, rehab care, nursing care, psychological counseling, physiotherapy for chronic pain, rental medical devices, on-demand medical supplies, ambulance in emergency, doctor home calls, etc.

How TriBeCa Care Came to Exist

TriBeCa Care was born out of a zeal for entrepreneurship and a determination to generate employment. Tamojit Dutta, the founder of TriBeCa Care, holds MBA degrees from Indian Institute of Management, Ahmadabad, and London Business School. To be a social entrepreneur was his long-cherished dream to create value for employees and customers in such a niche as health which requires dramatic shifts in conventional attitude towards ageing and elder care in the Indian society. “More than 110 million senior citizens struggle with little or no pensions and inadequate insurance in India. TriBeCa Care is my contribution to this section of society,” says Mr. Dutta.

The inception of TriBeCa Care was inspired by a slice of real life. “One of the biggest problems we ever had to deal with as a family was when my father had multiple cerebral strokes and was bed-ridden for 4 years. My brother & I were in London. We found it extremely difficult to actively help our mother who was struggling to provide the best Home Care for him. Beyond financial & emotional support, on a daily basis, we could do very little in practical terms. From that very traumatic event I was convinced that millions of families like mine are struggling to find professional, trustworthy Elder Care in India. TriBeCa Care is a product of that very personal experience. It is our goal to provide professional, affordable, long term care outside a Hospital environment for our loved ones,” shares Mr. Dutta.

A Brief about the Founder

Tamoji Dutta is an ardent entrepreneur and a man of leadership. He worked in conglomerates like Deutsche Bank and City Bank for 17 years before he founded TriBeCa Care collaborating with three like-minded professionals – Prateep Sen, Elina Dutta and Dr Shibaji Saha. His collective experience of leadership in trading, marketing, sales, operations, quality controlling, and strategy making for years is a guiding force behind the growth of TriBeCa Care. Each of his partners comes with a different skill set but has the same underlying passion – to improve the state of Elder Care, Specialty Home Care & Rehab Care in India. Mr. Dutta has been in London, Delhi and New York for a long period of his career, working with people from different backgrounds, tackling large problems and learning from them.

Business Model and USP

TriBeCa Care provides a range of services from home care to institutional care at affordable prices, either at patients’ homes or specialized TriBeCa face facility centres. It provides medical, non-medical and rehab services even for those above 60 years of age and having acute and chronic ailments. Uncompromised quality, affordable service and high-tech infrastructure make the USP of TriBeCa Care.

We work closely with families, doctors & hospitals in establishing the need for professional Elder Care & Home Care. This industry is very fragmented and poorly organised in India. Currently, the traditional healthcare system requires an average family to connect with multiple service providers – nursing agencies, physiotherapists, device stores, doctors – none of whom coordinates with each other. This is where TriBeCa Care differs and stands out. 

The USP of this healthcare start-up is its unique business model that is based on providing affordable and innovative solutions to the heath care needs of the elderly – home visits by experienced doctors, non-medical support through trained geriatric care workers, specialty home care from nurses and bed-side attendants, rehabilitation services by certified physiotherapists and psychologists, 24/7 Emergency helpline for ambulance support and medical devices for recovery at home.

Role of Technology in TriBeCa Care

Technology is central to the functioning and operations of TriBeCa Care. It uses simple to high-end technologies depending on patients’ need and complexity of cases. “From customer communication to monitoring care workers to improving delivery protocols to ensuring logistics tracking – massive investments have been made to our technology infrastructure comprising proprietary systems – mobile apps, a robust CRM database and analytics tools for patient management. We use technology for better monitoring & measurement of care through Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) and Bluetooth devices that connect doctors to patients at home,” says Mr Dutta.

Where TriBeCa Care Stands in Competition   

TriBeCa Care successfully competes with other players in the industry on strength of its quality, trust, innovation and affordability, according to Mr. Dutta. TriBeCa Care is a social enterprise with a difference in Elder Care which is a massive responsibility. “We consider it a huge privilege to take care of elderly patients especially when their family members are not physically present with them. We treat our clients as our dear and near ones, and strive to provide the level of care that we ensure for our own family members. Customer trust is a priority for our growth and success. Thus we have carved a niche for our enterprise despite huge competition,” says Mr Dutta.

Initial Challenges

The lack of awareness about professional Elder Cafe and Home Care services in India has been a major challenge to Tamojit Dutta. He says that this is an ongoing challenge and that it needs constant education of the target audience. That’s why TriBeCa Care works with hospitals, clubs, housing societies and social communities to increase awareness of and establish the existing need for Elder Care.

Initially the biggest challenge was to get trained care workers who would be willing to work at home. The Management of TriBeCa Care has put in significant efforts along with training partners to develop care workers by providing them 2-6 month’s training in Elder Care. “We have our own training facilities and have structured our own courses that cover technical, behavioural and hygiene issues for Home Care & Elder Care,” says Tamojit Dutta.

Response to TriBeCa Care

TriBeCa Care became the largest Elder Care Company in Bengal (the test market) within 24 months of its launch in Kolkata. Today, it is regarded as one of India’s leading Elder Care providers. Since its inception in 2014, it has served more than 5,000 customers and provided more than 200,000 bedside visits. It provides employment to more than 500 care workers every month in Kolkata alone. Mr. Dutta and his partners have forged strong partnerships with top healthcare providers including hospitals, doctors, medical device companies, and others, thereby establishing superior-service-quality credentials for TriBeCa Care.

Marketing, Funding & Goals 

TriBeCa Care is all set to be the number 1 Elder Care Company in India with both short and long-term goals. It is looking to provide up to 3 million bedside visits annually in the long run and enter tier 1 metro cities in the short run. Tamojit Dutta wants to come up with more health-tech devices for remote health monitoring and plans to launch multiple Institutional Care facilities including inpatient Rehabilitation Centres and outpatient Geriatric Clinics in key markets.

The Closing Note  

To conclude, Mr Dutta says, “There is a huge need for professional Elder Care in India. With rapidly increasing longevity and a large elderly population (110 million currently estimated to grow to 250 million by 2050), we as a society, are not prepared for the coming “silver tsunami”. From investments in Elder Care infrastructure to training of frontline care workers, the opportunities and challenges are immense.

The Long Term Elder Care industry in the US is $400 billion and has been well funded for many years. In India, the nascent $3bn industry is growing at 20% p.a. and needs much more private sector investments. Given the enormous population and pressures on public finances, the private sector has an important role in creating scalable but affordable professional Elder Care.

Tribeca Care is filling this enormous gap with different products & services – from nursing to physiotherapy to emergency response to companionship – for the Elderly and their families. To make these solutions scalable, significant investments are also being made in back end logistics and technology.” Read Startup News.

TriBeCa Care is a Promising Startup for Home and Elder Care