He joined the start-up in its infancy when he was introduced to Chris and Will Donnelly, through a º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ alumnus.
Lottie.org is a marketplace of care homes across the UK. The start-up connects care seekers to UK care homes through an internal vetting process.
Joined by James Payne, the group spent three months trying to build on the idea and website. From this, alumnus Ronan developed the idea to build and launch Seniorcare by Lottie, under the Lottie brand, to specifically support employees and their families in elderly care.
When asked what made him interested in this field, Ronan said:
“It is only when you personally go through the process of finding care for an elderly loved one do you realise that drastic change is required within the industry. The financial, temporal and emotional burden, finding a care home for my grandfather placed on my mum and auntie, made me realise I need to take responsibility to make sure the next chapter of many people's lives was a more enjoyable one.
“It also must be mentioned that the opportunity to drive change within an entire industry doesn’t come around too often and it is extremely rewarding to see first-hand the impacts Lottie has on families across the the UK.’’
Founding team at Lottie from left to right: James Payne, Chris Donnelly, Ronan Harvey-Kelly, Will Donnely
We asked Ronan about his drive to get involved in a start-up. He said:
“During my placement year, I worked at a large corporate company which helped me realise what I did and didn’t enjoy. I quickly realised I was much better suited to the start-up world. I built a failed fashion-tech company during that same year but remained confident that a more entrepreneurial job was for me.”
Finally, Ronan spoke of how his time at º¬Ðß²ÝÊÓƵ helped him become part of the founding team at Lottie:
"Studying International Business as a degree gave me a really practical insight into what makes a successful business across a variety of industries, locations and contexts.
“My time as the men’s hockey first team captain in my final year also developed my organisational and communication skills which I apply in a business environment frequently.”
Lottie is now 14 months old and has grown to have 50 employees. In 2023 they would like to focus on building technology solutions to continue to increase the levels of support available to employees who are balancing work and caring responsibilities.