We recently caught up with Nikita, COO of Ally Assist, a company built in 2018 that helps people with disability to find and manage their healthcare team. Find out more about their story below:
"I have a sister who lives with a disability; she doesn't have the capacity to be involved in her care or make decisions, so it’s my parents and I who manage her care completely. While funding from the government (through NDIS) was life-changing for my family, it came with its own challenges and complexities. Not only does a family have to learn to care for a family member with special needs, but also how to navigate government funding and services available."
When Nikita and Co-founder Sam Donegan met, it was a no-brainer that the two were going to become a power duo. Sam is a qualified medical doctor and full-stack engineer. He noticed the inefficiencies that people face when managing a person's care in the home and community and felt that he could build a tech product that would solve some of those issues.
Ally Assist now how have a team of 6 located in Melbourne, and are supported by Galileo Ventures - a venture capital firm and growth accelerator program for emerging founders in Australia, New Zealand and beyond.
Nikita is driven by: "Waking up every day regardless of the multiple fires burning and knowing my work is contributing positively to society. More specifically, families like mine."
With so many balls in the air at one time, the team are looking forward to not spending so much time managing their finances, but growing their team and scaling the product to increase their impact.
Read the testimonials below to discover the impact the company has made so far:
Ally Assist have been a life saving organisation. They are magnificent!
Ally assist are great value for money, reliable, productive and very effective. The staff are all very friendly and professional. The therapy assistants are always wanting to improve so they can deliver excellent good quality therapy. Therapy assists work along side qualified allied health professionals and endeavour to keep great communication to keep up to date my son's goals, objectives and outcomes.
Ally Assist have been very supportive towards my son's needs and will do their all to deliver a warm, enriching and positive learning environment.
I totally recommend them! Thank you for all you do Ally Assist!
Ally Assist has been a fantastic company to work for as an occupational therapy student. They provided me with the opportunity to gain clinical experience and skills in paediatrics with the flexibility required with university.
Their online system was really easy to use- and even though the company is based online they constantly checked in and were available to chat to if I ever needed support. I highly recommend them as an employer for any students that would like to gain some hands on experience with choice and flexibility over hours.
For families and support coordinators, I also recommend Ally Assist for the flexibility and choice with the ability to match your client with a therapy assistant that suits you (e.g. hours, interests, experience).