Home Care Direct

What Home Care Direct does

Home Care Direct is an Irish digital marketplace that connects families seeking home care with self-employed carers and personal assistants, bypassing traditional home care agencies. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Stillorgan, Dublin, the platform supports two-sided matching with carer-set rates typically in the €18–30/hr range, against agency rates of approximately €27/hr, with families reportedly saving around 40%. The company describes itself as Ireland's largest online home care community.

The core product is the matching and management platform, supplemented by iOS and Android mobile applications for scheduling, communication, and care plan tracking. Layered managed services — insurance coordination and tax/payroll administration for self-employed carers — add operational infrastructure on top of the core marketplace. The offering has been extended into live-in care as a separate higher-value product line.

Revenue is generated primarily through transaction fees on bookings between families and carers, augmented by fees from managed service add-ons. Distribution is partly institutional: the company participates in Ireland's HSE National Personalised Budget Pilot Programme, positioning the platform inside a public-sector channel for distributing personal care budgets. The director, Michael Harty, previously operated a home care agency, lending incumbent-side domain knowledge to the marketplace model.

Name

Home Care Direct

Legal name

Home Care Direct

Website

https://homecaredirect.ie

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Home Care Direct is an Irish online marketplace founded in 2016 that connects families with self-employed home carers and personal assistants, offering platform matching, managed services, mobile apps, and live-in care across Ireland.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Home Care Marketplace Platform

NAICS

Home Health Care Services (6216), Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (624120)

SIC

Services-Home Health Care Services (8082)

akta.pro primary industry

Care Navigation & Service Coordination (Medical, Social, Community) (HSABAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Live-In Caregiver Placement & Matching (HSABAMAD), Live-In Respite Care (Multi-Day) (HSABAGAC)

Keywords

• Home care marketplace
• Personal assistant platform
• Carer matching service
• Elderly care marketplace
• Disability support platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Stillorgan

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Platform Commission/Transaction Fee: Platform charges a fee for facilitating the connection between families and carers. Families pay through the platform for care services and the platform deducts its fee. Carers receive direct payments for their services.
2. Insurance and Administration Services: Platform provides insurance coverage and handles tax compliance, payroll administration, and invoicing for self-employed carers, generating revenue through these value-added services.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Home Care Direct operates an online marketplace platform that connects families in Ireland with self-employed local Carers and Personal Assistants. The platform enables families to search, contact, agree terms, manage schedules, and securely pay carers directly, while the platform handles invoicing, tax compliance, insurance, and payment administration for carers. It also supports live-in care arrangements and Ireland's National Personalised Budget Pilot Programme for the disability sector.

Product overview

Home Care Direct operates as a unified platform connecting families with local self-employed Carers and Personal Assistants across Ireland. The core product is the Home Care Direct Platform, a marketplace enabling direct contracting between families and carers. It is complemented by a Mobile Companion App (iOS/Android) for managing contracts, shifts, and payments. The platform also supports a Live-In Care service and participates in Ireland's National Personalised Budget Pilot Programme. No add-on or sub-brand modules beyond these offerings are identified in the source material.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Home Care Direct Platform An online marketplace that lets Irish families find, contact, contract with, schedule, and pay local self-employed Carers/Personal Assistants directly, removing the traditional agency middleman.
• Home Care Direct Mobile Companion App iOS and Android mobile applications for customers and carers/personal assistants to manage contracts, shifts, schedules, and facilities within the Home Care Direct platform.
• Live-In Care Service A live-in care service delivered through the platform, where a self-employed carer moves into the client's home to provide one-to-one care and support as an alternative to nursing home care.
• Personal Budgets Pilot Programme Support A programme support offering through the platform that enables individuals with disabilities in Ireland to self-manage HSE-funded personal budgets and contract directly with personal assistants.

Quantifiable outcome

• 40% cost savings for families compared to traditional agency care
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• HSE (Health Service Executive)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHome Care Direct is involved with the National Personalised Budget Pilot Programme for the disability sector. The platform facilitates personal budget arrangements where people with disabilities manage their HSE-funded support directly. Platform provides financial transparency and oversight to HSE, handling budget administration while removing need for HSE to control and administer budgets directly.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Care.com: Global online marketplace connecting families with caregivers, including elder care, special needs care, and personal assistants. Directly comparable two-sided marketplace model though at vastly larger scale and broader geographic footprint.
• Home Instead: Global senior home care franchise network operating across multiple countries including Ireland. Comparable in offering relationship-based home care for elderly clients but uses traditional employed-carer agency model rather than marketplace.

Regional players

• Bluebird Care: Established Irish and UK home care franchise network providing traditional agency-style personal care and elderly care services. Directly competitive incumbent in the same Irish market with similar service categories but agency (rather than marketplace) model.
• Caremark: UK and Ireland home care franchise offering personal care, dementia support, and live-in care via employed caregivers. Comparable service portfolio and UK/Ireland regulatory environment but traditional agency model.

Direct peers

• Elder: UK live-in care marketplace connecting families with self-employed live-in carers, offering platform-managed vetting, payments, and ongoing support. Directly comparable to Home Care Direct's live-in care offering.
• CareLinx: US online caregiver marketplace connecting families with professional caregivers for in-home care, with background checks and platform-managed payments. Closely comparable marketplace model serving elderly and disabled care needs.
• Mable: Australian two-sided marketplace enabling people with disabilities and older adults to find, hire, and manage independent support workers using self-managed (NDIS/personal budget) funding. Closest peer in disability personal-assistance marketplace structure and government-funded personal budget context.
• SuperCarers: UK online marketplace platform connecting families with vetted self-employed carers for home care, similar to Home Care Direct's model. Closest UK-based structural analogue operating in a comparable regulatory environment.
• Cera Care: UK-based technology-enabled home care provider combining a carer marketplace with managed services. Closest direct international peer given tech-led home care model, similar two-sided platform economics, and comparable regulatory/market structure.
• Honor Technology: US home care platform offering technology and operations infrastructure to agencies and caregivers. Comparable in that it inserts technology and supply-side enablement between families and care workers, though it partners with existing agencies rather than directly matching.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Home Care Direct