With their startup "Frontida" (Greek "Φροντίδα", German "Care"), Philipp Alexander Hierner and Marc-Andre Dommenget have made it their mission to solve a major social problem: they mediate qualified care staff at affordable prices, making home care conceivable for all of us. They founded their company in Hesse in July 2018, and since May of this year, their headquarters have been in Medical Park in Hanover, because with their concept, the two won the "Plug & Work" competition from hannoverimpuls.
The two founders are tackling an important unsolved issue in our society: How can we age with dignity? Founding a company in a market as difficult as care was an obvious choice for Philipp, as he himself was an employee of a care placement agency in Berlin as a student and knew the problems of the industry from his own experience. He says: "The care sector is a huge market, but completely opaque. With Frontida, we want to be a link between highly qualified caregivers and demanding clients. We offer qualified care at home – and it's affordable. Our second major concern is 'Young Care': In Germany, there are over 100,000 children, adolescents, or young adults under 40 who are in need of care. Until now, there has been little support for parents or relatives in this area, and hospitals are usually overcrowded. As young founders, it is a matter close to our hearts that young patients also receive dignified and professionally appropriate care." Reliability, transparency, and efficiency are the three keywords by which the founders want to be measured. An essential point in care is the personal contact between people, which is why they enable their clients to have a conversation with their potential caregivers by phone or video call before making their decision, to get a personal impression – Philipp and Marc-Andre aptly call this "care matching."
The two Frontida founders speak about their plans for the future: "We want to grow steadily and be able to act even faster. The satisfaction of our clients and also of the caregivers is our top priority. Therefore, we want to constantly work on our quality management. Furthermore, technological development should play a major role: topics like 'telemedicine' are very important to us. We want to connect clients who don't have specialists on site or for whom the journey would be too long with doctors."
They encourage others who want to start a business: "Be brave and get started! Of course, there will often be questions and problems, but only by tackling them can you solve them. There is no perfect moment, nor a perfect 'new' idea. Just be conscientious. The idea combined with a good team, with whom you can overcome difficult times in the long term, is the perfect basic prerequisite. Don't let yourselves be deterred from your path, persevere!" And they praise their new corporate home: "Hanover has really welcomed us with open arms; we have received every conceivable support from hannoverimpuls from day one. The organization here is great, everything moves quickly!"
