Carlson School of Management · Office of Technology Commercialization · University of Minnesota

Founder's Day 2026

Ambient Intelligence

24/7 contactless and noninvasive monitoring
engineered for memory care.

R&DOffice of Discovery and Translation
ENDUREBakken Medical Devices Center
01

The Problem

The growing nursing shortage in the U.S. and abroad demands new tools to extend what limited staff can do. We built a system that monitors complex patient movement patterns for both falls and longitudinal changes over time.

02

The Solution

The resident moves freely.
We never interfere.

Ambient sensors are installed in the room and continuously map motion through space without cameras, wearables, or any interaction from residents or staff.

01Sensors mount in corners — out of sight, out of mind
02Full coverage including bathroom and transition zones
03Detects falls and movement patterns
04No wearable, no camera, no resident interaction required
BEDROOMBATHAWS · KINESISSENSOR ASENSOR BSENSOR CSENSOR DMOTION: AMBULATORYGAIT: NORMAL · FALL RISK: LOW · PATENT PENDINGIWR6843AOP60 GHz FMCW · UMN OTCLIVE

Fig. 8 — Sensor coverage · Patent pending · UMN OTC

03

Opportunity

Dementia is the fastest-growing cause of death in the developed world. The care infrastructure hasn't kept up and the workforce shortage makes it impossible to close the gap with people alone.

Growing at7.9%CAGRremote patient monitoring in elder care
US facilities28,900+licensed memory care units nationwide
By 205013MAmericans projected to have Alzheimer's
TAMTotal Addressable Market

$38B

Global eldercare monitoring & analytics market

SAMServiceable Addressable Market

$4.2B

US memory care facilities — sensor monitoring & AI analytics

≈ 11% of TAM
04

Technology

Passive sensing.
Active intelligence.

Ambient device data flows securely through the cloud, where an AI model translates it into summaries on the nurse dashboard in real time. Nurses see what matters without sifting through raw signals and unnecessary alerts.

01AMBIENT SENSORS60 GHz FMCWIWR6843AOPACTIVE02CLOUD AIAWS BEDROCKFOUNDATION MODELINFERENCING03ECGRESPELLA AINURSE ASSISTANTHIPAA COMPLIANTALERT · ROOM 204
05

Flagship Product

Ella AI
Nurse Assistant

Ella is the AI layer that makes ambient sensor data meaningful. It continuously analyzes motion patterns and generates plain-language summaries — surfacing what matters to the care team without requiring any interaction from residents or nurses.

01Daily AI summaries for nurses
02Prioritized alert queue with anomaly detection
03Behavioral trend analysis — days, weeks, months
ellamemory.com ↗
06

Minnesota Roots

Built in Minnesota.
For Minnesota care and beyond.

The Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics is a unique collaborative venture among the Mayo Clinic, University of Minnesota, and State of Minnesota. The Partnership seeks to position Minnesota as a world leader in biotechnology and medical genomics applications that will result in important new medical discoveries, thereby improving health care for patients and supporting the development of new business and jobs in Minnesota.

University of Minnesota

Office of Discovery & Translation

UMN OTC is supporting our PCT patent filing and commercialization pathway. We are preparing for a Q3 2025 IRB submission for our Minneapolis pilot study.

Accelerator

gener8tor Portfolio

Backed by gener8tor — the nationally recognized accelerator that connects founders to capital, mentors, and enterprise partners across the Midwest.

Pilot Site

Minneapolis Summer 2026

Targeting 1–2 skilled nursing facilities in Minnesota for an observational pilot study. Real care environments. Real outcomes. IRB-guided and HIPAA-compliant.

Engineered for
Memory Care.

Get in TouchExplore Ella Memory