Knoxville’s Senior Shield wins AgeInnovate’s first pop-up pitch competition at LaunchTN’s 3686
On Wednesday, three startups pitched live for a $25,000 investment from Community Equity Partners as part of AgeInnovate's new pop-up partnership with Launch Tennessee's 3686 conference. We're happy to report that a local company took home the check!
AgeInnovate co-founder Amy LaGrant and Greater Nashville Technology Council CEO Mark Blaze opened the event, saying there was no better place to bring agetech founders together than 3686.
“2034 is the year when there will be more seniors in the United States of America than young people. That’s why AgeInnovate is important. Tennessee has a great tech community. Couple that with the Nashville being the epicenter of healthcare. This is the perfect place. It’s the perfect time. AgeInnovate’s pop-up gives founders in this space direct access to the investors, healthcare leaders and mentors who gather at 3686 every year,” they reflected.
Three agetech founders then pitched to a panel of judges: Jeffery A. Williams of Microsoft; Nathan Buttrey of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development‘s Office of Innovation; Mary Flipse and Sara Terry of Brookdale Senior Living.
Eric Dobson of Community Equity Partners said the judges had their work cut out for them.
“If you’re a young company, how do you gain access to healthcare systems and pilots without investor capital? And at the same time, how do you get investor capital without access to healthcare systems and pilots? AgeInnovate’s cutting through that, and we’re proud to play a part,” he said. “We think of ourselves as community-based equity. We invest in the communities we live in. All of these companies are investable. I don’t envy the judges having to make this decision.”
Senior Shield takes home the win
Senior Shield Technologies, is a Knoxville-based startup co-founded by Kareem Elfoulie. The company is building an externally worn incontinence-monitoring pad for elderly patients that aims to address a $600 billion care crisis in the U.S.
The pad alerts caregivers to accidents via digital alerts, cutting down on manual checks and infection risk. In a pilot project, the device detected 18 urine spills, saved roughly 15 minutes of care per accident and helped prevent falls. So far, they’ve:
- Completed 200 customer-discovery interviews.
- Lined up four preclinical usability-testing partners.
- Secured relationships with two U.S.-based manufacturers.
- Met with Kimberly-Clark for partnership conversations.
- Been named a finalist in the National Institute on Aging’s startup challenge.
Incontinence affects more than 27 million American seniors, and caregivers often rely on uncomfortable physical checks, particularly in facilities with limited staffing Physically probing is uncomfortable, unsanitary, and undignified for everyone involved.
Other startups that pitched
Quiltt
Quillt is a Franklin-based, resident engagement and family communication platform pitched by COO Mathew Guilfoyle. It helps senior living communities streamline operations and combat loneliness and isolation by using a proprietary algorithm to track and prioritize resident engagement. The company is raising $1.5 million to expand its community count and prepare for a Series A round.
Every family touring a community is looking to answer the same question: Can you prove my mom won’t be forgotten here?Legacy systems ask, ‘What’s on the schedule today?’ Quilt asks, ‘Who needs connection in my community and why?’
SuperSenses
Based out of Marina del Rey, Calif., SuperSenses is a multisensory screening platform that measures smell, taste, hearing, vision and touch to help detect early signs of cognitive decline years before memory symptoms appear. Founder and CEO Datar Sahi shared that they have more than 200 contacts, 28 pilots underway, and are seeking money to fund validation work and participant incentives.
Globally, we are just very reactive to brain health. We just wait until there’s an observable symptom, and then we rush to diagnose it. This is the first time that we’ve been able to see it coming. It’s all thanks to your senses. Every single memory you’ve ever had came to you through your five senses.
Tennessee showcase slot
After these three pitches, LaunchTN‘s Chief Investment Officer Eller Kelliher took the stage to introduce the non-competing showcase slot to Vanderbilt-founded Ilera, represented by co-founder Maya Poghosyan. The slot is designed for an emerging, local startup to get some practice pitching and visibility.
Ilera deploys specialized AI agents to help family caregivers determine eligibility for, and navigate, federal and state financial assistance programs.
One in four American adults are providing unpaid family care, and while there is a broad ecosystem of state programs to help support them, there’s almost 22 billion dollars that goes unclaimed every year because these families can’t navigate to them.
Last year’s winner shows what the spotlight can do
The pitch competition ended with a conversation with 2025 winner SpendCare‘s CEO Perry Halman-Peguillan. It showcased what the event’s exposure can do for an early-stage company.
Since winning last year’s competition, the Franklin-based startup has grown from about 200 cardholders to nearly 1,400, while spending facilitated through its flexible spending card platform has jumped from roughly $100,000 to more than $1 million.
Stay tuned for an in-depth feature on each Tennessee-based company that pitched!
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