Lively Files IPO Prospectus: Pioneering Personalized Elder Care Through Passive Sensors and LivelyGram

In January 2016, VCBeat Research Institute released its first “Elderly CareIn-Depth Review of Asset-Light Entrepreneurship Models,” launched in March, “New Entrepreneurial Tracks Have Emerged:Elderly Care“The Era of Asset-Light Opportunities Has Arrived.” Starting this week, we will gradually roll out reports on startups in the niche sector of asset-light elderly care entrepreneurship. This is the third article.

Lively is a senior care startup founded in 2012 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA. In December 2015, Lively was acquired by the mobile phone manufacturer GreatCall.

There are currently approximately 11.3 million older adults living alone in the United States. Although it is common for children to live separately from their parents in the U.S., this arrangement has given rise to certain challenges, such as the inability of children to monitor their parents’ daily well-being in real time. Lively aims to provide peace of mind and facilitate communication for older adults living alone and their families. By using passive sensors installed on household items such as kitchen appliances and medicine cabinets, Lively tracks and records activity patterns to ensure the user’s well-being. Through the LivelyHub, family members and friends can receive personalized newsletters via LivelyGram—even without an internet connection—allowing them to stay updated with photos and private messages from the older adult’s daily life.

Development History

In 2012, Lively secured $2.5 million in seed funding initiated by Clayton Lewis, a partner at Maveron.

On May 16, 2013, after Lively launched a one-month crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with a goal of $100,000, the company ultimately raised only $15,000 from 168 backers, resulting in a resounding failure.

On September 18, 2013, Lively officially announced its launch, a milestone largely attributable to the company’s robust fundraising position. Around the time of its crowdfunding campaign, Lively successfully secured $4.8 million in Series A funding from Cambria Health Solutions and Maveron. Although the company’s valuation had not yet been fully determined at that stage, numerous media outlets regarded its product as having significant potential to “capture market share” in the elderly care sector.

On December 1, 2015, Lively officially announced its acquisition by GreatCall, a U.S.-based manufacturer primarily producing mobile phones for the elderly. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed; however, both companies have stated that they will continue to operate as independent entities.

Core businesses include sensors and the social network LivelyGram.

Lively’s activity sensors record seniors’ daily activities, such as leisure time, cooking time, and medication schedules. The sensors then transmit the collected activity signals to a central hub via built-in cellular connectivity, where they are analyzed to determine whether they align with the seniors’ routine patterns and preferences. Meanwhile, Lively allows users to securely and privately upload their daily activity data by quickly logging in via a computer, tablet, or smartphone. This enables older adults to share their personal lives with family and friends without intruding on each other’s privacy.

LivelyGram offers customized photo and message delivery services. Users can upload their photos and messages to Lively, then schedule them to be delivered to friends and family in specific formats and at designated times, typically twice a month. The advantage of this approach is that even users who are temporarily unable to connect to the internet can still enjoy the empowering information experience of “Having LivelyGram in hand, I have the world at my fingertips.”

Lively officially launched in the United States in September 2012, and before the fourth quarter of 2013, Lively announced its specific arrangements for the international market.

Lively’s core revenue-generating product is this suite of social networking user experiences and services. A one-time payment of $149 includes two months of free access to LivelyGram. After the initial two months, users who choose to continue can do so for a monthly subscription fee of $19.95. The service operates on a pay-as-you-go basis, with no mandatory long-term commitment required from users.

Collect data using sensors and add a micro-accelerometer

Lively’s LivelyHub monitors the daily activities of elderly individuals, helping to ensure their routines remain on track. Its core component is a hub that resembles a wireless router, which connects to six passive sensors equipped with mobile technology. The LivelyHub does not require users to purchase any mobile data plans; in fact, it does not even need a Wi-Fi connection. In this regard, the LivelyHub is somewhat similar to Amazon’s Whispernet. Additionally, the LivelyHub is very easy to use: simply plug it in, and the sensors will automatically begin collecting data. Of course, these sensors must first be placed in various locations around the home—specifically, areas frequently visited by the user’s parents or grandparents in their daily lives. For example, sensors can be attached to refrigerator doors, inside kitchen cabinets, or affixed to pillboxes or keychains. Once installed, the sensors gradually adapt, learning and recording the daily routines of the elderly users.

Additionally, each sensor is equipped with a micro-accelerometer that feeds information about the elderly user back to the hub, such as the opening and closing of the refrigerator door. Moreover, these sensors do not have positioning capabilities, ensuring that users’ privacy, including their location, is not exposed. However, if the hub detects that an elderly person’s behavior on a given day deviates from their usual routine, it will send alerts to their children via the Lively website or iPhone app. The Lively alert interface is highly user-friendly and practical: if everything is normal, you will see a row of green smiley faces; if an anomaly is detected, such as the elderly person failing to take their medication, the system will display a specific orange sad face emoji.

Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer: Keith Dutton

In his youth, Keith was a rising star in martial arts, having secured second place at the North American Bok Fu Championship. When overtraining led to knee issues, he healed himself by maintaining consistent attention and scientifically restructuring his movement patterns. This experience sparked Keith’s research into “the impact of self-awareness and mindful attention on well-being,” leading him to earn a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Washington. He is also a certified Feldenkrais practitioner and has published articles in top-tier psychology journals and publications. Additionally, Keith taught himself assembly programming and computer graphics to build games and platforms that could track the metrics he cared about, a broad range of interests that ultimately earned him a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from Stanford University. Keith eventually founded Lively, where he serves as Chief Technology Officer.

Co-Founder & CEO：Iggy Fanlo

In 1983, Iggy served as the captain of Princeton’s golf team and later gained admission to medical school. After working in a hospital for a period, he transitioned into the financial sector, though his interest in the health field never waned. Following 15 years in finance and 13 years in internet media, Iggy has returned to where he started. For him, golf is a form of meditation that helps him explore the relationship between physical movement and emotional temperament.

Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer: David Glickman

In the 1980s, David withdrew from the first round of the Northern California Tennis Championships. During the same period, he founded Music Doctors, a company that led the DJ industry for decades. Later, he embarked on numerous diverse ventures, ranging from Mac consulting and trading transferable airline tickets to developing an innovative iPad app and establishing a nonprofit organization (www.chalk.org) dedicated to identifying and nurturing promising young talent in San Francisco. For David, founding Lively is about leveraging technology to enhance quality of life while bringing people closer together.

Lively, a senior care startup, has demonstrated through its journey—from an initial failed crowdfunding campaign to subsequent successful fundraising, and ultimately its acquisition by GreatCall—that the eldercare sector is one where opportunities and risks coexist. While every market trend offers companies a chance to take off, how high and how far they can fly is another matter entirely. Lively has proven that failure is not terrifying; what truly matters is avoiding irrelevance. Although the eldercare sector remains hot, only time will tell whether Lively, now acquired by a traditional mobile phone manufacturer, will drive further innovation to change the world or simply become a pre-installed app focused on generating steady revenue.