AVAILing of a Greater CentralReach
15th March 2021
An Irish health tech company, Avail Support, has been acquired by leading US software company, CentralReach.
Avail Support has developed avail®, an award-winning digital platform that helps individuals –including those with Autism, Down Syndrome, Brain Injuries and other cognitive disabilities – to learn the skills needed to live a more independent live across all domains.
The company’s main market is the US and its software is being used by health providers, schools and workplaces like TJ Maxx across the US to provide evidence-based personalised learning plans, assessments and progress reports to empower individuals with various neurodiverse disabilities, through the use of smart devices.
Disability agencies using the avail® platform have reported that it reduces the need for 1-on-1 assistance, improving learning outcomes and successes with some users achieving 60% mastery of skills within four weeks.
Skills achieved by users include hygiene, cooking, independent living, travel training, employment skills and behaviour management.
The solution and package is funded internationally across a range of government-funded assistive technology supports, including in Ireland under the Workforce Equipment Adaptation Grant, provided by the Department of Social Protection.
An Enterprise Ireland company, Avail Support is based in Monaghan and will continue to operate out of its Irish office with founder Lisa Marie Clinton at its helm. The price of the acquisition has not been disclosed.
Lisa Marie Clinton set up the company in 2015 and launched in 2017 after her professional experience and research revealed that by using digital prompting and principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis, she could help those with disabilities learn new lifechanging skills.
Although the company currently has just two employees and outsources some roles, it has experienced a 600pc growth rate in the last eight months.
CentralReach is expanding the current Avail Support team to support its growth across America and beyond and has already started the process of hiring a Product Software Manager.
CentralReach is a leading EMR, practice management, and clinical platform for Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) therapy providers. It is based in Florida and has 100,000 users serving over 200,000 neurodiverse clients.
CentralReach said the acquisition of Avail Support would allow them to disrupt the behavioural health software market and that the alliance would create the most robust platform to enable more independent living of neurodiverse individuals of any age.
CentralReach will continue to offer avail® as a standalone solution to the education, employment, and adult transition services markets. It will also be available as an integrated solution with CentralReach’s market-leading EMR for ABA and behavioural health provider organisations.
Avail Support Founder and CEO Lisa Marie Clinton said: “This was the obvious next step for avail®. The platform was born out of a need to revolutionise how we support neurodiverse individuals, to equip them with the tools to self-manage their day and have ownership. With CentralReach as the leader in the space, we know that, as one company, we could help neurodiverse individuals realise their full potential and live more independent lives, faster. I’m thrilled to join Chris and the larger CentralReach family.
Our work has just begun!”
CentralReach CEO Chris Sullens said:
“I’m thrilled to welcome Avail Support and its founder, Lisa Marie, to the team. In an era where the delivery of individual care is more capacity constrained than ever before as waitlists for behavioural health services grow, students wait for individual teacher attention, and employer training and support doesn’t account for neurodiversity, avail® enables neurodiverse individuals to increase their independence by taking more direct control of their learning and skill acquisition.
The combination of CentralReach and avail® stands to disrupt the behavioural health software market and how the future of care is delivered.”
Minister of Social Protection, Community and Rural Development, Heather Humphreys TD, said:
“Avail Support is a great example of an Irish – and indeed Monaghan-based – company competing and winning business at a high-level internationally. I am delighted for the company and for its founder, Lisa Marie Clinton, who has shown how someone with a fantastic idea and mission to help other people can create an extremely viable tech business with such growth potential.
“She is also helping to open up employment opportunities for people with disabilities. This is an issue that is very close to my own heart, as Minister with responsibility for promoting the participation in the workplace of people with disabilities. Congratulations to Lisa Marie and the team at Avail Support on the acquisition and the very best of luck with this new ambitious phase of growth”
Niall McEvoy, HPSU ICT Accelerate Department Manager at Enterprise Ireland, said:
“This is very positive news for Avail Support founder Lisa Marie Clinton and her team. Since its early days, Avail Support has been assisted by first the Local Enterprise Office in Monaghan and then through Enterprise Ireland. As a High Potential Start-up company, Enterprise Ireland was proud to back Avail Support’s innovation and vision, knowing its capacity to make a huge difference in the lives of thousands of neurodiverse people with Autism, learning difficulties, and brain injuries. This acquisition will see the use of Avail Support’s platform expand, particularly in the US.
We welcome the fact that the Avail Support team will continue to be based in Ireland following the acquisition.”
