Telefónica, through its investment vehicle Telefónica Ventures, announced today the investment in Durcal, the first Spanish Telecare application focused on seniors. Telefónica leads the investment round whose closing value has reached 8 million euros and in which also participated Mangrove, KFund, Prosegur Tech Ventures, Aldea Ventures and Atresmedia among others, in addition to the CEO of Durcal, Guillem Viladomat.
The Durcal platform consists of a watch connected to a telecare application. This platform is the first telecare solution focused on non-stigmatizing seniors, its appearance is similar to that of a smartwatch, but with all the functionalities of a telecare product. The smartwatch has integrated GPS with built-in SIM to work both inside and outside the home, so it allows family members to know in real time where the person wearing the watch is or to measure vital signs that can be viewed from the free Durcal app, in addition to establishing a communication environment between members of the senior’s family.
Currently, Movistar Prosegur Alarms offers its customers the services of Durcal. Through its smart watch, it incorporates an intelligent fall detection system and, by means of its help button, it can be connected to the Movistar Prosegur Alarms control center 24 hours a day. When an anomaly is detected, the Movistar Prosegur Alarms central manages the incident by contacting the wearer through the microphone and loudspeaker integrated in the watch and, whenever necessary, alerts the required personnel, such as the police, ambulance or fire department, of the corresponding autonomous community.
With this new investment, Durcal will continue to expand the promotion in Spain of its smartwatch with integrated GPS and develop new functionalities that adapt to the needs of the elderly in an increasingly remote and hybrid world. In addition, the team expects to further strengthen its presence in Spain and Andorra, and announces its expansion into Latin America.
“This capital injection comes at a key moment, as it will allow us to promote new services on the GPS watch, as well as consolidate the company’s growth with the online sale of smartwatches. Also, in the near future we would like to open operations in other countries that need solutions that meet their real needs. Our goal at Durcal is to become the leading platform for remote family care and to be able to help as many people as possible around the world to go digital in a simple but effective way, without stigmatization,” says Guillem Viladomat, CEO of Durcal.
“At Telefónica Ventures we are committed to companies that strengthen new consumer verticals in Spain with a broad technological scope; Durcal represents the type of company we want to collaborate with, which is why we have chosen to lead this financing round. With Durcal, we already have a portfolio of 14 startups invested directly and more than 110 startups invested through our network of Venture Capital funds, we also highlight our role as anchor investor in Leadwind, launched together with Kfund, which is the largest fund in Southern Europe for Scale ups”, explains Pablo Moro, Head of Investments at Telefónica Ventures.
Durcal has 9 million downloads of its free app and is the most complete app designed for the over 65s. Its mission is to reduce the technological gap in the sector and digitize this group by providing them with an application and a watch that allows them to be more connected with their families, democratizing their access and covering the real needs of its users.
