OneClick.chat, a startup aiming to connect older adults via its web-based video chat platform, just received another round of fundraising from the National Institutes of Health to continue its research into the effect social connection can have on overall health of older adults, including those with mild cognitive impairment.

This round of the Small Business Innovation Research grant, in partnership with researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, is worth $1.8 million and will go toward phase two of the company’s research. Phase one was supported by a $150,000 grant given to the company in 2018.

Cofounders Dillon Myers and Alan Gibson met a few years ago at an alumni event for Washington and Lee University, and bonded over the idea that people of different generations don’t often connect with each other. The pair started hosting virtual potluck dinners with folks from a diversity of age groups, and realized there was a gap in the market for an easy-to-use video platform for older adults.

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