AI-generated summary
María Gonzalez Manso, after her work with Akademia’s innovation program, founded Tucuvi, a startup that has developed a virtual caregiver using artificial intelligence to support the elderly through phone calls. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Tucuvi played a crucial role in addressing the emotional and physical needs of isolated elderly individuals. The service has contacted over 14,000 seniors, referring urgent cases to telecare companies, and has also monitored patients discharged from hospitals, helping to alleviate pressure on the healthcare system and track disease progression.
A key advantage of Tucuvi is its phone-based approach, which suits elderly users who may lack the skills to use apps but are comfortable with telephone communication. The virtual assistant uses natural language processing and machine learning to understand and respond to users’ needs, improving its effectiveness over time. About 10% of calls lead to in-person assistance, indicating good user selection and genuine need, while over 80% of conversations are completed successfully, showing strong acceptance among the elderly. Tucuvi exemplifies how technological innovation combined with startup agility can effectively address challenges posed by crises like the Covid-19 pandemic.
In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, numerous startups have stood out for offering solutions to the problems caused by the pandemic. Learn about the case of Tucuvi, an AI telephone assistance startup, founded by María, an Akademia alumni.
After working at Akademia, the Foundation’s innovation program, María Gonzalez Manso founded Tucuvi, a startup of which she is CEO. At Tucuvi they have created a virtual caregiver, which helps the elderly through phone calls thanks to the use of artificial intelligence.
Below, you can watch the interview we did with María to learn how her company has offered solutions to alleviate the consequences of the pandemic:
Tucuvi, an assistant to monitor the elderly.
In the midst of the crisis caused by Covid-19, both the health systems and the health call-centers, Tucuvi helped to cover the situation of the elderly, both emotional and physical, who, in most cases, have been alone during confinement. Tucuvi has called more than 14 thousand people, and then referred the most serious or urgent cases to the telecare company.
In addition, it is helping to monitor people who have been discharged from hospitals, reducing the pressure on the health system and increasing knowledge of the evolution of the disease.
One of the differential advantages of Tucuvi is that its service is carried out through telephone attention, since the elderly do not always have the necessary technological skills to download and use an App, but they do feel comfortable on the phone.
Virtual assistants such as Tucuvi still face several challenges in their development, such as data management or how to know efficiency or satisfaction indicators. In the interview, María tells us that she has about
Tucuvi is based on natural language processing technology, which manages to interpret what the user needs, and conversation after conversation, based on training based on machine learning, manages to learn and know what the user needs.
Companies like Tucuvi are a clear example of how technological development, combined with the entrepreneurial initiative of a startup, can help us overcome a crisis such as the one caused by Covid-19 in an agile way and with great impact.
