Neha Sinha, Dementia Specialist, CEO and Co-founder, Epoch Elder Care

What inspired you to establish Epoch Elder Care, and how does your personal journey shape its mission?

I have been brought up by my grandparents and spending time around elders has always been a very fulfilling experience. Epoch Elder Care was born out of a deep belief that caring for elders requires more than medicine; it demands empathy, connection, and dignity. In my early years as a counsellor at a rehabilitation centre for schizophrenia, I witnessed the unseen battles fought within one’s mind. Those experiences shaped my understanding that true care must extend beyond clinical boundaries and honour the person behind the condition. As I began working closely with families of elders, I saw how dementia and other chronic conditions left caregivers overwhelmed and unsupported. Most families became primary caregivers without any training or resources. This gap inspired me to create a system that offered not just medical management but holistic care management and understanding. What began as a companionship-based model gradually evolved into assisted living homes providing ‘serious care’, a pioneering step in India’s eldercare ecosystem.

How do you balance clinical care with emotional, cognitive, and social well-being across all facilities in the group?

What makes Epoch unique is the balance of clinical excellence and human warmth. Our homes are not mere institutions; they are places where elders feel at home, are supported by caregivers who are trained and understand their medical needs as well as their emotional ones. We stand by our mission to provide holistic, person-centered care that allows elders to have the best quality of life. Caring for people with dementia needs an approach that goes much further than medical treatment. At Epoch, we believe that while clinical interventions and medications play an important role in managing symptoms, they are not a panacea. True care lies in addressing the emotional, cognitive, and social dimensions of ageing. Our teams work to create calming, dementia-friendly spaces where elders can feel safe and valued.

With India’s ageing population and rising chronic conditions (as highlighted by LASI), how is Epoch preparing to meet this growing need?

At Epoch, we view this not as a looming crisis but as a structural opportunity to build a care ecosystem rooted in clinical depth, dignity, and person-centered design. Our model integrates evidence-based clinical care, technology-enabled monitoring, and specialised dementia expertise across our assisted-living homes. We have built multidisciplinary teams — doctors, nurses, psychologists, physiotherapists, and care associates — who are trained specifically in geriatric and dementia protocols. To meet the rising demand, Epoch is scaling capacity from 200 to 500+ beds, launching new facilities like Monet House in Pune, and expanding our training and research verticals. We are also piloting memory-care clinics and family-consultation services to bridge the gap between home care and institutional care.

Our goal is simple yet ambitious — to make high-quality elder and dementia care accessible, outcomes-driven, and emotionally humane for every Indian family that needs it.

How do you recruit, train, and retain skilled caregivers, and what initiatives help them stay motivated in such a demanding field?

At Epoch Elder Care, caregivers are the cornerstone of our care model; they’re not just employees but the foundation of the quality of care, dignity, and compassion we deliver. We recruit individuals based on clinical knowledge, as well as soft skills such as empathy, patience and respect for elders.

Our hiring channels include nursing colleges, caregiver institutes, and staff referrals. They are given clear role expectations so that performance aligns from day one. Every new caregiver undergoes a structured onboarding program covering dementia care, infection control, mobility techniques, and emergency response, led by our in-house training head. Continuous upskilling is ensured through refresher courses, simulations, and performance audits, with specialized modules in palliative care, dementia engagement, and managing challenging behaviour.

We focus equally on retention and growth. Clear career pathways, from Facility Nurse to Senior Facility Nurse or Documentation In-Charge, help the care and nursing teams envision a long-term future with us. Regular recognition, family feedback, and appreciation initiatives nurture motivation, while supportive measures like shift flexibility, accommodation, and wellness spaces help prevent burnout. Our caregivers are also active participants in celebrations, cultural events, and innovation pilots such as VR therapy, keeping them engaged, proud, and connected to Epoch’s mission.

Congratulations on the recent funding round — how will this investment accelerate your growth and expansion plans?

Thank You. As part of Age Care Labs, India’s largest integrated elder care platform that also includes Emoha, this round allows us to leverage shared technology, research, and scale advantages across the ecosystem. This investment is a strong validation of the elder care sector’s potential and of Epoch’s leadership within it. The fresh capital will primarily accelerate three things — capacity expansion, clinical innovation, and technology integration.

How do you plan to allocate the funds — towards infrastructure, technology, talent, or new services?

Lumis Partners is our anchor fund and long-term investor. Their role has gone far beyond capital — they’ve been instrumental in guiding Epoch’s strategic direction, governance, and growth planning. Lumis has provided deep mentorship in building scalable systems and strengthening the business backbone, allowing us to focus fully on what we do best — delivering exceptional, clinically driven elder care.

We are also proud to have strong partners such as Rainmatter, Gruhas, and Singularity Ventures, whose support has been invaluable in our growth journey. Each investor brings not just financial strength but also a strategic perspective — from technology enablement to sustainable business scaling. Their confidence reinforces our belief that elder care is not just a social need but one of India’s most transformative business opportunities for the next decade.

The eldercare sector is capital-intensive with long-term ROI. How do you convince investors that this is a viable and sustainable business?

Eldercare is one of the most compelling sectors to invest in today. With India’s demographic shift accelerating, elders are projected to comprise nearly 20% of the population by 2050, driving a sustained and growing demand for high-quality care. At Epoch, the model inherently supports long-term revenue stability. Residents typically stay with us for life, resulting in exceptional retention and minimal attrition. This continuity provides predictable cash flows and allows us to plan growth and funding with precision. With consistent revenue streams, predictable growth, and a sector poised for significant expansion, eldercare is not only socially impactful but also a sustainable and viable business proposition.

India currently lacks a comprehensive regulatory framework for eldercare. How do these policy gaps affect your operations, and what changes would you advocate for?

At Epoch, we’ve consciously built our model around clinical governance, ethics, and evidence-based care, even in the absence of formal regulation. The recent rollout of NABH’s Care Home Accreditation Standards is a welcome step, setting a voluntary benchmark for safety, quality, and governance. However, until such frameworks become mandatory and uniformly adopted, the sector remains fragmented, with no standardised norms for staffing ratios, infrastructure, or clinical protocols.

To strengthen the sector, we advocate for clear policy interventions:

Alongside our expansion, we remain deeply committed to spreading awareness and education through caregiver workshops, collaborations with healthcare providers, community events, and public outreach. Through our efforts, we hope to break the stigma around dementia and empower families with knowledge, aiming to ensure that care is sought earlier and that no family feels alone in the journey.

• Defines clear categories within eldercare (e.g., assisted living, nursing care, palliative care, dementia care).
• Sets minimum quality and safety standards across staffing, training, and clinical oversight.
• Provides incentives and accreditation systems for responsible operators.
• Encourages public-private collaboration to bridge the gap between home care, institutional care, and healthcare systems.

Looking ahead, what is your vision for Epoch over the next 5–10 years, both in terms of expansion and impact on eldercare in India?

Epoch’s vision is to create high-quality dementia care homes across major urban centers in India. Over the next five years, our long-term goal is to expand to 1,000 beds across multiple facilities, each upholding the same standards of trust, dignity, and joy that define Epoch Elder Care.

Epoch Elder Care aspires to be a pivotal force in transforming elder care in India, setting new benchmarks for quality, compassion, and dignity in every aspect of care. Beyond providing exceptional services, we aim to positively impact society by breaking the stigma surrounding elder care homes and redefining them as places of comfort, trust, and meaningful living.