10 million pouches given, an incredible milestone! Thanks to our customers, thanks to our amazing team, and everyone who has been part of this journey thus far. It is essential that there is a strong faith in the vision – full-heartedly. That’s something we have treasured as we have worked our way together when having fun in the midst of various challenges – of which some seemed unbearable.
I think of all home care clients using Evondos service and think of how many places there is the familiar voice saying: It is time to take your medicine, please press the button” – in Finnish or in another language – it makes me smile. Perhaps a bit shy smile – but smile it is. I could not even imagine the magnitude of 10 million, even though there was a dream to grow big and be a remarkable player in the market. And 10 million – that is a big number.
“This is the future”, I had heard this a number of times already before when giving a presentation on Evondos to a director of home care services in one municipality. It was 2014, and we are just about to launch the Evondos service. By then we had already been shaping the future for 7 years – if we start counting from the day I started Product Development studies at the University of Turku, where the idea of Evondos came up. At that time it was not meant to produce more than a successful graduation, but it turned out to be a completely different story.
Looking back it feels like it was yesterday when hearing the comment “This is the future”. That felt like a punch in the face when I heard the comment. “This is the future” really meant “not practical, not useful in the near future”. After long hours, endless challenges and millions of euros spent on product development we were restless and could not wait for more. Medicine adherence is a huge problem. Nurses are spending a lot of time counting and dispensing pills – and all that time is taken away from their clients, who would need physical help, and time to meet the nurse. “This is the future” – that felt so bad, as we had heard that in countless meetings already when the Evondos service was just lab work at the university.
Timing is of the essence. It is not enough that I am, or we are, ready. Also, the world needs to be ready and the circumstances right. We developed technology for home care, which had not been seen nor used earlier. And this technology had to be reliable and safe to use. Trust needs to be earned – always. This requires pilots, trials, discussions meetings – you name it. 10 million pouches tell, all the effort was not in vain. I believe we have earned the trust and our place in the market. And we will stick to that and keep going.
10 million given pouches have also resulted in hundreds of newspaper articles and research reports all over Nordics: Numerous homecare clients have felt improved welfare and better control of their life. One client considered Evondos' implementation the best thing that happened to him for a long time, another one was able to return back to work supported by Evondos’ aid in medicine taking. Care personnel feel relief in their continuous hurry and stressful days. One homecare director even said that they could not have handled the summer without Evondos due to problems in getting more care personnel as the number of clients is growing. I’m proud of this feedback and results – everything we have reached already now.
I want to express my gratitude to everyone at Evondos. And even more, I want to say thanks to all of you who have to rush at home care services, and the clients as well as our partners. This is a good start – we now aim at the next factor of ten – 100 million.
Mika Apell, founder of Evondos.
