Founded by Adam Jahnke and Geoff Ayre, Umps Health supports older Australians to live safely and independently at home using the Umps Health Smart Home platform.
The startup joined the Accelerator in 2017, with their smart plug solution that fits between any existing appliance and the wall to measure things like when a person boils the kettle, opens the refrigerator or cooks using the microwave, and then sends a signal to communicate to Umps Health that they are OK.
The company uses powerful analytics to build up a picture of a person's usual behaviour, and looks for subtle abnormalities that indicate when something's gone wrong. As soon as a breakdown in behaviour is detected, Umps Health raises an alert to the family through their desired communication channel – either via text or the Umps Health mobile app.
The Umps Health solution has been recognised by many within the innovation space, being awarded the winner of both the Ageing Innovation Challenge (2017), and also the winner of the Telstra People’s Choice Award (2018). They have also received a commendation in the IoT award – Healthcare or Sports Projects (2018)
Geoff is an engineer and entrepreneur with a passion for creating technology to improve lives. He has always been fascinated by technology and started coding when he was 11 years old. Since studying electronics engineering at the University of Melbourne he has designed hardware and software solutions for clients including Intel, AWS, and Telstra. He has led engineering teams developing a range of innovative products and has a particular interest in IoT, AI, and cybersecurity. In 2017 he joined Umps Health as CTO after meeting Adam Jahnke and being inspired by the technology's potential empower older Australians to live independently without compromising their privacy.
Adam’s background is in the commercialisation of technology to improve public health. One of his earliest roles was at Cochlear China, where he developed partnerships with enterprise and government stakeholders to make cochlear implantation accessible to disadvantaged and remote communities. Prior to founding Umps Health, he worked at Ericsson, where he led the development of digital transformation projects to improve the liveability of cities in Australia and South East Asia.
Adam founded Umps Health to support his grandpa live safely and independently at home. After reviewing existing solutions, he found that technology on the whole hadn’t been designed to work for his grandpa. The first person to use Umps Health’s technology was his grandpa, who he calls Umps. That's where the name Umps Health comes from.
