The 'start-up' that emerged from covid that excites the elderly

It all began with the solidarity and involvement of some young people during the covid-19 pandemic, in 2020. They asked people to donate tablets to recondition them so that the elderly people in hospitals or residences could communicate with their families, who could not visit them due to mobility restrictions. In fact, more than one person was able to say goodbye to their family thanks to these devices.

A group of young people started collecting tablets and reconditioning them for this purpose. But they noticed that they were not well-trained in the use of technology and that, therefore, it was very difficult for them to use them. The first step was to create an application with much larger icons and a more intuitive interface. This was the birth of Bleta, a start-up that already has an important track record. Its founders are Isabel García Baños, current CEO, Gerard Pinar Baillés, COO, and Adrià Roca Gervilla, CTO.

Unlike other similar emerging companies, in this case there is a clear business model. On the one hand, the sale of adapted tablets with the Bleta application. On the other hand, although the application –valid for both tablets and mobile phones– is free, it allows for a subscription by family members. In exchange for a fee of five euros per month, they can have information about the elderly person in question: their location, whether the tablet or mobile phone has battery, and other details. Furthermore, it can be adapted so that when the family member wants to communicate with their grandfather or grandmother, a message or a video call opens immediately, without the user having to take the steps of searching for the specific application, checking if they have a message or not, etc.

But, in addition, the promoters of this company have found a third business avenue: the town councils. Increasingly, more municipalities want to contact the elderly people in the town, inform them of news, cultural events, festival programs, and other aspects of local life. Bleta can adapt its application to each municipality so that the town council can transmit all relevant information to the older inhabitants, the seniors.

So far, eleven Catalan town councils have already contracted this service, in addition to the Comú d'Encamp, in the Principality of Andorra. Town councils like Cassà de la Selva, Begues, Vidreres, and Cabrera de Mar already have the service, and some larger ones are currently testing it. Depending on the contracted services and the number of users, municipalities can pay Bleta between €2,400 and €15,000. However, the application itself –not including municipal services– is already being used abroad and is translated into about fifteen languages, explains Gerard Pinar Baillés, operational director and co-founder of Bleta.

The company, which employs six people, has already achieved an annual turnover of €300,000 and expects to reach €500,000 this fiscal year. To date, the company has completed two investment rounds with the participation of key ecosystem players, such as First Drop, Ona Capital, Altura Capital, and several business angels, as well as public capital, through Enisa. In 2025, Bleta successfully closed a funding round of €500,000.

Gerard Pinar is clear that the business model can work. With three monetization streams –the sale of tablets, family subscriptions, and agreements with municipalities– he explains that "with 40 town councils, we would reach the break-even point." Furthermore, he sees other business opportunities because many companies and institutions want to end the digital divide. For example, he explains, there are banks or insurance companies interested in this application because they could adapt it to their businesses.

For the company's founders, Bleta "is not just another application, but an accessibility layer that translates institutional communication into a usable format for those who do not master technology." And regarding town councils as potential clients, they explain that "at a time when more and more procedures are exclusively digital, the question is clear: can the administration digitize without leaving behind a growing portion of the citizenry?"

200,000 downloads

So far, the application has already registered nearly 200,000 downloads in 27 countries and its commercialization covers 9 European markets with over 2,000 adapted devices sold.