IU spinout Care Revolution has been backed by the university's Philanthropic Venture Fund after previously raising funds in 2016.

Care Revolution, a US-based care management software spinout from Indiana University, has secured $150,000 in funding from the university’s Philanthropic Venture Fund.

Philanthropic Venture Fund is a $15m evergreen vehicle formed in February 2018 to back Indiana spinouts with the cash raised from tax-deductible gifts to the university.

Care Revolution has developed a cloud-based software platform intended to bolster staffing and resources in care centres to help reduce unnecessary hospital stays for their residents.

The technology exploits artificial intelligence to efficiently assign agency healthcare workers who have been trained in supporting long-stay residents, permanent staff and care management reviews. It can be accessed through a web browser and smartphone app.

Care Revolution is the result of a program called Optimistic, developed by researchers in the School of Medicine, School of Nursing and Center for Aging Research.

They were assisted by partners from institutions including University of Indianapolis and health informatics-focused research centre Regenstrief Institute.

Optimistic was trialled in 19 nursing homes and assisted living facilities with up to 2,000 long-stay residents, where it helped reduce avoidable hospitalisations by 33% during the pilot’s initial phase.

The project is led by Dr Kathleen Unroe, a practising physician, health services researcher and assistant professor of medicine and geriatrics at the Indiana School of Medicine.

Unroe received help drawing up Care Revolution’s strategy from Indiana University Research and Technology Corp, the commercialisation firm responsible for Philanthropic Venture Fund.

Care Revolution previously received capital from VC firm FundersClub in 2016 and accelerator Y Combinator at an undisclosed date.

Unroe said: “More than 25% of long-stay residents are hospitalised annually, which is burdensome to the residents and their families. Around 45% of these visits are considered avoidable, which means they are a source of inefficiency and a waste of resources.”