NEW YORK, NY - Sep 11, 2025 (UTC) - Meela, a personalized AI voice companion for seniors, launched publicly and announced $3.5 million in seed funding led by Bain Capital Ventures (BCV). With these funds, Meela will invest in R&D to expand its product capabilities and clinical efficacy research.
Meela is addressing a critical challenge facing America’s seniors, with 1 in 3 older Americans experiencing loneliness and 1 in 4 experiencing feelings of isolation on a daily basis. Loneliness is a chronic problem correlated with significantly increased risk of heart disease, stroke and early death, with a mortality impact similar to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. This issue affects America’s fastest growing age group – there are 58 million seniors (age 65+) in the United States, with over one million seniors living in nursing homes, another 800,000 residing in assisted living facilities and 16 million living at home alone.
The company was founded by former Lyft and Microsoft PM and business builder Josh Sach, who has product vision and a deep personal connection to Meela’s mission. Josh witnessed his aging grandparents, father-in-law, and mother go through changes in their physical and mental health and complex changes in their social circles, leaving family members feeling helpless as conditions deteriorated and feelings of isolation spiked.
“We’re building Meela to be the trusted companion that every senior deserves,” says Josh.
Every day, every enrolled senior gets a phone call from Meela. Rather than a robotic back and forth, Meela affords seniors an opportunity to use parts of their brain that don’t get activated as often and voice any concerns they’re experiencing to a non-judgmental or hurried listener. Meela greets each person by name, recalls details from past conversations with the individual and asks thoughtful, personalized questions based on interests designed to evoke positive memories and joy.
The platform is delivering impressive results. The average conversation length with Meela is over ten minutes, and remarkably, 35% of participants spoke with Meela for more than 25 minutes in a single call. In early pilots, Meela achieved over 50% retention at 90 days, meaning more than half of participating residents continued speaking with Meela three months after their first call. On average, seniors rated their experience 4 out of 5, saying Meela helped them feel more connected and less lonely.
Meela also provides a HIPAA-compliant dashboard for caregivers to receive health alerts and deliver better care. Select insights gleaned during phone conversations between seniors and Meela are shared with designated staff to provide proactive interventions and improve the quality of individual care, while maintaining privacy sensitivities. For example, if a senior is experiencing ongoing concerns like chest or leg pain, Meela sends real-time alerts that are captured in the dashboard, allowing enrolled staff to follow up and determine the best course of action.
Meela is used by select early customers including RiverSpring Living, which serves over 22,000 people daily across independent living, assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, rehab and home care services. “AI cannot replace human connection, but can be an impactful enhancement to our care teams. Meela is transforming how we fight isolation and support emotional well-being,” said David V. Pomeranz, president and CEO of RiverSpring Living.
“This is more than a company for us at Meela – it’s a mission that we take very seriously as we work toward alleviating a source of tremendous global human suffering,” says Josh.
Meela operates in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), independent living, continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) and assisted living environments and has plans to expand into other arrangements such as memory care and home care. The company partners with long-term care facilities nationwide and is rapidly expanding to meet the growing demand for AI-powered emotional infrastructure that addresses the loneliness epidemic among seniors.
About Meela
Meela is a personalized AI voice companion for seniors that provides compassionate conversation and helps older adults feel less alone while keeping caretakers connected. The company delivers the first-ever AI companion built for seniors without the need for additional hardware or hard-to-navigate bespoke devices. Meela also provides a HIPAA-compliant dashboard for caregivers to receive health alerts and deliver better care. Based in New York, the company partners with long-term care facilities nationwide and is rapidly expanding to address America’s senior loneliness epidemic. For more information, visit www.meela.ai
