About
Onward’s mission is to eradicate transportation as a barrier to healthcare and to alleviate the burden of caregiving. We do this by providing total transportation management services for healthcare and a unique rideshare experience for individuals with mobility and cognitive impairments, door-through-door service with a Companion Driver.
Our Companion Drivers are trained to help riders, especially those with mobility and cognitive impairment, put on shoes and a coat, carry their belongings to the car, fold a walker or wheelchair, and help them into the vehicle. On the other end of their journey, they will walk their rider into their healthcare appointments and provide a direct handoff to the healthcare team.
One distinct advantage of Onward’s service is our Rider-Driver favorites. Onward consistently matches riders with the same Companion Driver, as a result, they build trust and relationship and the Companion Driver learns their rider’s needs. In fact, riders have told us, “I am only going to dialysis today because of my driver Jessica.”
We currently partnered with the San Francisco VA, UCSF Health, Alameda Health System, and Onlok and CEI, two PACE programs in the Bay Area, and provide over 3,000 rides per month, that is 100s of care appointments for dialysis, procedures, and surgeries that our riders can now safely attend. This door-through-door service is so valuable to our healthcare partners, that they cover it for their high risk patients, and it is helping to avoid costly ER visits and hospital readmissions.
Founders Bio
Kim Petty is co-founder and CEO of Onward, where she is solving for transportation as a barrier to care. Prior to joining Onward, Kim served as Chief Customer Officer at Royal Ambulance and co-founded ExperiaHealth which was acquired by Vocera Communications where she went on to lead their SAAS Patient Engagement business. She spent her early career with GE, is a Board Member of the Northern California Center for Well-Being and holds a BBA from Ohio University, an MBA from University of Chicago.
Shivani Parikh is Onward’s Chief Operating Officer. Prior to joining Onward, Shivani led operations for several high-growth, two sided marketplace companies including Origin Financial, Blade, Bird, and Uber Technologies. She holds a JD from University of Minnesota Law School and a BS in Accounting from DePaul University.
Steve Grau is the Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Onward and the CEO of Royal Ambulance, the largest provider of ambulance services in the Bay Area. Steve started Royal over 16 years ago and has served as the President of the California Ambulance Association.
Product Overview
Honors and Awards
- Winner of AARP AgeTech Collaborative Pitch Contest at CES, January 2023
- Northbay Business Women of Influence Award, June 2023
- AgeTech Takes Center Stage at CES. What’s Next Longevity Deal Talk. January 13, 2023
- Eight Finalists Selected for Healthy Aging Sandbox Challenge, Massachusetts eHealth Institute, April 2023
- Meet the Spring 2023 Startups, AgeTech Collaborative from AARP, April 24, 2023