Our story

My aunt fell in her apartment, where she lives alone, and she couldn’t get up. Her phone was nowhere near her, so she was just stuck. She stayed on the floor until her building’s super happened to stop by and find her. No alarm went off and nobody got an alert. She was found by luck.

Many of the people we love live alone, some of them far away, and we couldn’t honestly say we’d know if something went wrong. Each garden founder had a similar story or worry about their loved ones. And we weren’t just concerned with falls and other acute problems; we were worried about our parents’ and relatives’ happiness and wellness.

As we explored the market, we realized the space was terribly underserved. Fall detection pendants get left on the nightstand half the time. Some children of older adults resort to cameras because they feel they have no choice. Forgoing any solution means a constant nagging feeling that turns into low-grade anxiety or stressed-out over-communication. We don’t want our conversations with our loved ones to be about their safety; we want to talk about the things that matter.

So we built garden. Garden uses motion and audio signals to understand what is going on in a home without cameras. It can detect both emergencies and subtle changes to a routine while respecting our loved ones’ privacy. We’re not asking our loved ones to change their lives or remember to charge or wear a new device that they don’t want. When we’re not stressed about wellbeing, it’s a lot easier to connect the way we’d like to. We’re building it so parents and loved ones can keep living in the homes they love, and so the people who love them never have to count on luck.

James, Cofounder of garden