UnaliWear is revolutionizing the way the aging population lives. Bringing modern technology to this massive and growing market, the company has developed a smart watch that utilizes user-specific big data to deliver services, such as fall detection, prevention against wandering, and medication reminders – all through a speech interface. Using a patented quick-swap battery system in the band, the watch never has to be removed so it is not being charged overnight when most falls occur.

UnaliWear watches combine cellular, Wi-Fi, GPS, BLE (for hearing aids and telemedicine devices), an accelerometer for automatic fall detection, and continuous speech to provide an active medical alert that works anywhere, along with data-driven artificial intelligence that learns the wearer’s lifestyle to provide predictive, pre-emptive support.

More about UnaliWear:
“These two women think it’s time for a smart watch for seniors” – bizwomen 10/10/16

“Working with True Wealth Ventures has been fantastic. There’s a real advantage of working with women – they understand the market, they’re more inclusive, and they share the wealth. Sara is on our board, and brings skills to the table that make a big difference. She is unflappable, and works through anything. That is worth its weight in gold.” – Jean Anne Booth

Founder: Jean Anne Booth
Headquarters: Austin, TX

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Meet Jean Anne Booth:

Background: A serial entrepreneur, Jean Anne came out of retirement to start UnaliWear after selling previous startups to Texas Instruments and Apple.

Jean Anne was the founder of Luminary Micro, the creators of the Stellaris microcontroller platform and the first to market with ARM Cortex-M3-based microcontroller solutions. Luminary Micro was purchased by Texas Instruments in May 2009, and was one of the top VC-backed M&As of 2009. Jean Anne retired from TI in 2012 after serving as the general manager for TI’s Stellaris family of products.

Jean Anne was also a founder at Intrinsity, the creators of the graphics chip in Apple iPad products. Intrinsity sold to Apple in 2010.

Jean Anne holds a BSEE from the University of Texas at Austin, and an MSCE from National Technical University.

Why start UnaliWear? “UnaliWear was inspired by my mom, and by my desire to give her independence with dignity as she ages. When she turned 80, we had a discussion of what we should do to keep her safe while she maintains her independence. Mom emphatically told me she wasn’t willing to wear today’s emergency alert products because they’re ugly, limited outside the home unless they are tethered to a smart phone (which she doesn’t have, and more importantly, she doesn’t want), and those big help buttons are socially stigmatizing. My mom is in the 88% of the independent-but-vulnerable 75+ population who won’t use any of today’s emergency alert products. There wasn’t anything on the market that would work for her, so even though I was retired at the time, happily living aboard a dive boat as a Dive Master, I came back to Austin to find a solution.”

Why seek venture capital? “I had a lot of experience in venture capital – having raised over $100 million myself in the past – so I thought my background and fundraising experience would make it easier to fundraise for UnaliWear. Nothing has been further from the truth. We’ve raised [some] from angels and angel groups. Now that it’s time for growth capital, I’ve pitched to over 300 consumer, health tech, and corporate VCs, and finally determined that we represent the biggest green space that traditional VCs just AREN’T playing in.”

Why True Wealth Ventures? “There is not as much funding available for physical property companies; it’s more for software. There also were several challenges with our product: (1) old people aren’t a ‘sexy’ investment, (2) The traditional buyer is female, and the typical VC is male. If men have vulnerable loved ones, they usually haven’t dealt with the issues and don’t understand the driving need for new solutions since daughters and daughters-in-law are serving the aging population the vast majority of the time, and (3) Natural human optimism allows us to hold the mistaken belief that aging will be better for us than for today’s elders; another reason it’s hard to see the need for better technology. There also is a gender bias in investing – the gender of the entrepreneur makes a difference; with male VCs, women founders get asked different questions than male ones do. Working with True Wealth Ventures has been fantastic. There’s a real advantage of working with women – they understand the market, they’re more inclusive, and they share the wealth. Sara is on our board, and brings skills to the table that make a big difference. She is unflappable, and works through anything. That is worth its weight in gold.”

Have you seen women general partners (GPs) bring a different perspective to the table? “In my limited experience, female GPs do bring a different perspective. Yes, they want to win in the market, yes, they’re competitive – but at the same time, they are much more inclusive, focusing more on success and less on being comfortable that everyone they’re working closely with is just like them. TrueWealth is the first VC I’ve worked with that even *had* female GPs, and I’ve found TrueWealth to work harder on behalf of the company’s success than I ever experienced with other (male-led) VCs. So is that a gender thing, or a TrueWealth thing? I don’t know, but I’m glad to be working with TrueWealth.”

Do you think a woman’s perspective is valuable to this market? “In this particular market, at this particular time, the female perspective is critically important, because it’s women who make today’s healthcare decisions. When I’m out and about, wearing my Kanega watch, I don’t have women tell me that their mom will use an Apple watch, because they’re more involved in the realities of aging, and they know what an aging population can and can’t do.“

Words of Wisdom: “It’s fairly impossible to compare one person’s startup journey to another person’s startup journey, or to say ‘this is because I’m female’ or ‘this is because I’m a minority.’ Contrary to what you read in the media, nobody has it easy. Don’t steal your self-confidence by comparing your reality to someone else’s PR. The secret to attracting investors? Three simple things: tell a story, practice your pitch, and surround yourself with positive people. Probably the biggest challenge that entrepreneurs have is that we always want to say too much – just don’t do it! Remember the two rules of marketing: (1) Never tell them everything you know.”