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Caregiver support startup Grayce collected a $10.4 million Series A led by Maveron, CEO Julia Cohen Sebastien tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: An aging America is in the grips of a caregiver crisis, with burdens on unpaid custodians — particularly women and the "sandwich generation" — compromising peoples' health and ability to work.

Zoom in: BBG Ventures, Correlation Ventures, GingerBread Capital, Alumni Ventures, Visible Ventures, Gaingels, and What If Ventures participated in the round.

Funds will be used to help Grayce expand to work with payers in addition to employers, whom they currently serve.

Cohen Sebastien foresees Grayce raising a Series B in 2025.

How it works: The San Francisco company connects people to social workers employed by Grayce who help manage tasks such as planning, prioritizing, and coordinating care, identifying resources, and advocating for services.

Grayce also offers educational content and connection to a peer community.

For example, someone might ask a Grayce social worker about what to do for an aging family member who'd recently fallen. The social worker could talk them through budgeting, search possible sites of care and at what level of acuity, assist in identifying safe agencies or facilities that meet their criteria, and then help arrange that care.

The big picture: This is the seventh deal in the caregiver support space in the past year, with companies including Helpful, Family First, Nili, and Tuesday Health all raising early-stage rounds since summer 2023.

Three of those deals were announced last July alone.

What they're saying: "We believe the next wave of benefits will come in caregiving," says Maveron partner Jason Stoffer.

"There is not a single need, like childcare or fertility, but rather a range of needs that can debilitate employees, causing them to either work less or take leave and leave work altogether," he adds.

Flashback: Cohen Sebastien, a former SVP at Aetna, and Kassidee Kipp met through a mentoring program while caring for loved ones and founded Grayce in 2019.

A side-effect of caregiving, per Cohen Sebastien: Being treated as a bystander by providers and administrators. "I wanted to be a part of changing that. I think every family deserves that," she says.

By the numbers: Nearly a quarter of U.S. workers are estimated to perform caregiving duties for a family member, and the task is thought to cost U.S. families an estimated $522 billion in lost annual income.

One fun thing: The name Grayce is an homage to several concepts in the aging and caregiving realms, including the name of someone you might trust to care for your loved one, the idea of aging gracefully, and the notion of providing care with grace.

"That's what outside help should enable you to better do," says Cohen Sebastien, "to care with grace."

State of play: Alongside Family First, Helpful and Nili, other recent relevant deals across the caregiving and end-of-life care support sectors include...

End-of-life care support company Tuesday Health this May raised $60 million.

Cariloop, a caregiving support tool for employers, this April collected a $20 million Series C.

Betterleave, a startup that partners with organizations to improve end-of-life care, last fall input $2.4 million.

Exclusive: Grayce raises $10M Series A for caregiver support

The SF startup links people to social workers who manage tasks such as planning, prioritizing and coordinating care.

Illustration of a pillow with a health plus on a rocking chair.

Health tech deals

Caregiver support startup Grayce collected a $10.4 million Series A led by Maveron, CEO Julia Cohen Sebastien tells Axios exclusively.Why it matters: An aging America is in the grips of a <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="caregiver" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2018/10/15/americas-caregiver-crisis-health-care-system" data-vars-content-id="cb8f77bf-575e-422d-aac6-6ae212d3be77" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Grayce raises $10M Series A for caregiver support" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2018/10/15/americas-caregiver-crisis-health-care-system" target="_self">caregiver</a> <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="crisis" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2021/10/13/vaccine-mandates-nursing-homes-caregicing-women" data-vars-content-id="cb8f77bf-575e-422d-aac6-6ae212d3be77" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Grayce raises $10M Series A for caregiver support" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2021/10/13/vaccine-mandates-nursing-homes-caregicing-women" target="_self">crisis</a>, with burdens on unpaid custodians — particularly women and the &quot;<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="sandwich generation" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2020/07/09/coronavirus-sandwich-generation" data-vars-content-id="cb8f77bf-575e-422d-aac6-6ae212d3be77" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Grayce raises $10M Series A for caregiver support" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2020/07/09/coronavirus-sandwich-generation" target="_self">sandwich generation</a>&quot; — compromising peoples&#x27; health and ability to work.

Exclusive: Grayce raises $10M Series A for caregiver support

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