UpsideHoM

Upside, founded in 2020 as UpsideHom, is a Fort Lauderdale, Florida company that works on housing for older and vulnerable adults. Its original model was described as "deconstructed senior living": rather than building or converting a dedicated facility, the company leased or purchased studio to three-bedroom units in existing amenity-rich condo and apartment buildings and subleased them to older renters, either alone, with friends, or with roommates matched through proprietary matching software. Base rents bundled furnished common areas, housekeeping, cable, electricity and maintenance, along with twice-weekly Papa Pals companionship visits, with optional add-on services. Residents were typically aged 60 to 85, and the company screened and interviewed applicants by video or in person before placement.

In September 2022 the company, then operating as Upside, launched Upside+, extending its offering with certified caregivers providing non-clinical care management in members' apartments, referrals to physicians and specialists, meals and transportation, delivered in partnership with home care agency TheKey. Rates were all-inclusive and typically around $6,000 per month, with members able to add, decline or pause individual services.

Upside currently presents itself as a housing-stability platform for health plans, health systems and employers. Members are identified by referral or by system flags indicating risk, then assigned a "Care Guide" who builds a housing plan covering where the member could live, assistance with deposits and move-in costs, and the steps required, and who stays engaged until the housing situation is resolved. The company states coverage across all 50 states on a 24/7 basis, a network of more than 750,000 properties, and multilingual care guides, and it publishes free plain-language housing guides on eviction, deposits and moving, affordable housing, senior downsizing and local resources.

Founding story

Jake Rothstein traced the idea to his own family: after his grandfather died, his 87-year-old grandmother was living alone in a large four-bedroom house with stairs that had become difficult after knee-replacement surgery. The family sold the house and moved her to an apartment in the same neighborhood, near her doctors and grandchildren, and Rothstein found himself driving her at night and logging into her bank each month to manage a scattering of utility and rent bills. He concluded that many older adults do not need hands-on personal care but do need bundled supportive services, a single trusted point of contact and one monthly bill, and framed the goal as aging in "the right place" rather than aging in place. He also observed that his grandmother and her friends, many widowed or divorced, disliked living alone but wanted to retain independence. UpsideHom was his fifth company; he previously co-founded Papa with his cousin Andrew Parker.

Business model

Upside began as an operator of furnished, service-bundled apartments for older adults: it bought or leased units in existing amenity-rich condo and apartment buildings and subleased them to individual renters, either as private studios/one-bedrooms or as shared two- to three-bedroom apartments with matched roommates. The base monthly price bundled furnished common areas, housekeeping, cable, electricity, maintenance and twice-weekly Papa Pals visits, with optional paid add-ons such as meal delivery, transportation, entertainment and concierge services. In 2022 it layered on Upside+, an all-inclusive service tier including caregiving. The current model is business-to-business: health plans, health systems and employers contract for housing-stabilization services delivered to their members at no cost to the member.

Initially rental revenue from subleasing units to residents, supplemented by referral-style fees paid by discounted vendors, with rooms starting at about $1,500 per month and optional services billed as add-ons. The Upside+ tier used all-inclusive monthly rates of roughly $6,000 that varied with the services selected. Third-party research classifies the company's revenue as recurring.

Traction

In 2020 the company reported growth of roughly 20% week over week, homes across Florida, residents aged 60 to 85 with more than 30% male, and less than $1 million raised. By September 2022 it operated in 78 markets across 22 states, and said nearly a third of members had requested a care option like Upside+. Third-party research lists 17 employees as of February 2024.

Latest developments

Upside has shifted its public positioning to housing stabilization for healthcare organizations, describing a Care Guide-led intake, planning and navigation process delivered at no cost to covered members, coverage in all 50 states around the clock, and a network of more than 750,000 properties.