The opportunity

The problem is large, urgent, and almost entirely unaddressed by technology.

Over 11 million Americans are managing a parent or spouse with dementia — navigating medical decisions, legal documents, financial planning, and daily safety without a roadmap, without coordination tools, and without any guide that knows their specific situation.

Existing solutions are either human-intensive concierge services priced for the wealthy, or narrow single-domain apps that don't talk to each other. No one has built a comprehensive AI-powered platform for the family caregiver. That's the gap Fortivus fills.

TAM
$18B US dementia care support market
Growth
Cases doubling every 20–30 years
Primary target
Adult children 35–65, family quarterback caregiver
B2B wedge
Employer benefits — 1 in 5 employees is a caregiver
Revenue model

Three channels. One platform.

Fortivus is a subscription business with two direct revenue channels and a B2B employer benefits channel that opens the enterprise market.

B2C
Direct-to-family subscriptions — Free, Plus, and Premium tiers. Primary acquisition via organic search, caregiver communities, and Shelly's speaking and outreach strategy. Pricing being finalized through MVP validation.
B2B
Employer benefits partnerships — Enterprise contracts with HR/benefits buyers. 1 in 5 employees is a family caregiver. Significant ROI case around absenteeism and retention. Second major revenue channel post-launch.
Partners
Professional referral network — Vetted eldercare attorneys, financial planners, placement specialists, and home care agencies. Lead fees with clear disclosure. Premium plan feature that also generates partnership revenue.
Founder market fit

This isn't a market we researched into. It's one we lived.

My parents — Nancy and Henry Niehaus — both have Alzheimer's. My wife Shelly's father has early-stage cognitive decline. We have navigated three of our four parents through this simultaneously.

In September 2022, my dad called 911 at midnight and fell back asleep, forgetting he'd called. My sister called me that morning: "Dad lost Mom." We spent hours calling hospitals and police stations across Austin before we found her. We were told she couldn't be discharged until we had 24/7 care in place — for both parents — within five days. We had never discussed assisted living. We had no plan. We also discovered legal complications that made coordinating with my sister a nightmare.

Nancy passed away in August 2025. Henry is in memory care now.

I've spent 20 years in technology consulting, the last several in AI strategy. I know what's technically possible. I've lived what's missing. That combination is what Fortivus is built from.

Mark Niehaus
Founder, Fortivus