Marc Cayle, founder of Milwaukee startup OnKol, has formed a new company called BeHomeSafe.
“What we’re doing is OnKol corporately is really focusing on large enterprise accounts … that are piloting with us and those things just take a really long time,” Cayle said. “Personally, I don’t have the patience for it.”
So in the meantime, Cayle has started Milwaukee-based BeHomeSafe, which provides remote monitoring and personal emergency response solutions for seniors. The plan is to franchise the business to provide personalized business-to-consumer solutions nationwide, he said.
“The franchisees will be doing assessments and then determining what age-in-place technology solutions make sense for the family and then installing those solutions,” Cayle said.
Among those solutions will be the OnKol hub, a device which connects the elderly to remote caregivers, he said, but also other technologies.
“There are wonderful technologies that people need that OnKol does not fulfill right now, because we are focused on in the home,” he said. “So those seniors that want to, for example, have mobile technology, those are things that OnKol does not do.”
BeHomeSafe provides a new direct-to-consumer sales channel for OnKol, which allows family and caregivers to remotely monitor elderly or disabled people with text updates on emergencies, medication adherence and vitals. The device now includes home automation information such as door sensors, lights, motion detection, water sensors and temperature.
“That’s really the biggest challenge that we’ve had is the long sales cycle and free pilot units that we’ve been sending out don’t do anything for the bottom line,” Cayle said.
Currently, age-in-place technologies are shipped to seniors but they may not know how to set up the systems. In a $140 billion industry, Cayle said this is an untapped opportunity.
The franchise model fits with Cayle’s background as director of development at Milwaukee-based bakery franchise Breadsmith, former owner of three Comfort Keepers franchises and a current franchise consultant at FranChoice.
He is piloting BeHomeSafe in Milwaukee and North Carolina. Customers of BeHomeSafe will receive hands-on assistance with the technology, as well as access to local business discounts for seniors. He plans to get referrals from in-home care agencies that are facing staffing shortages.
“We have raised funds to launch those pilots to prove the model and then once we have proof of concept, I’m going to be raising another round for the franchise company and I have commitments for that already,” Cayle said.
He declined to reveal the funding totals or investors in BeHomeSafe.
Cayle continues to serve as chief operating officer at OnKol. The company recently moved to the Landmark Building in Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward, where it has about 1,500 square feet for its five employees. BeHomeSafe is based out of the same office.
OnKol is doing well and is growing, Cayle said, but he declined to disclose figures. It has gained verbal commitments from large enterprise clients such as health systems and insurance companies, but is still working to lock down a major contract.
