Hartford Business Journal

4 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 26, 2026 Startups, Technology & Innovation Daniel Caridi, co-founder of Kibu, with former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson, who provided boxing lessons for Kibu's online content. Contributed Photo CT startup backed by $5.1M uses AI to ease Medicaid paperwork for disability providers Origins and competition The idea for Kibu grew out of Caridi and co-founder Gage DeDo- minicis' volunteer work with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which began before the company launched. DeDominicis, a 37-year-old martial arts instructor from Trumbull, invited Caridi to help lead an in-person fitness class for people with disabilities in 2019. "It started really kind of by chance," Caridi said. "It's just the silliest class you could think of, where we're throwing dodge balls at each other. We were dancing. I fell in love with it, fell in love with the people." When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted in-person programming, the pair shifted the classes online, offering live sessions on a volunteer basis for more than two years. Participation in the virtual classes grew rapidly, Caridi said, prompting the founders to expand beyond fitness into life-skills and job-readiness program- ming. As they worked with disability service providers, they repeatedly heard complaints about existing documentation systems. "We were working with 30 to 40 orga- nizations at the time, and they just kept saying how outdated, how clunky, how difficult their software was," Caridi said. That feedback led the founders to pivot toward developing Kibu's elec- tronic health records software, which they spent about a year building before bringing it to market. Kibu competes with established providers in the disability services space, including Spirit Club, which focuses on in-person fitness program- ming, and Torrington-based Therap, which offers documentation software tailored to providers serving people with disabilities. Caridi said adoption of Kibu's documentation software has outpaced growth in its instructional content offerings. The founders used their own money and help from friends and family to get off the ground. Its growth has drawn backing from Connecticut Innovations, which said the disability services sector has long been underserved by technology vendors despite significant regulatory demands. "The people who are serving the intellectually disabled, the service providers are still using, in many cases, paper," said Matthew McCooe, CEO of Connecticut Innovations, which has invested $650,000 in Kibu to date. McCooe said Kibu's expansion also aligns with Connecticut's efforts to grow technology-driven companies and create jobs in the state. By Michael Juliano mjuliano@hartfordbusiness.com A Stamford-based startup is using artificial intelli- gence to help disability service providers sharply reduce the time spent documenting care for Medicaid reimbursement, allowing staff to spend more time with clients. For organizations that serve people with intellectual and devel- opmental disabilities, documenting services is often as critical — and time-consuming — as delivering them. Providers must produce detailed records to substantiate Medicaid claims, a process that can require hundreds of staff hours each week and divert resources away from direct care. Kibu, founded in 2022, provides electronic health records software that automates much of the docu- mentation required for Medicaid billing, along with online instructional content for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. "Our goal at Kibu is to use tech- nology to do a lot of that heavy lifting for (service providers)," said Daniel Caridi, the company's 28-year-old co-founder. Kibu says the software has helped some providers cut weekly documentation time from about 200 hours to roughly 20. Investor interest has followed the company's early traction. Kibu last year closed a $5.1 million seed funding round led by GreyMatter Capital and Connecticut Innovations, the state's venture capital arm, according to the company. Caridi said Kibu generated about $500,000 in revenue in 2025 and projects about $2 million in 2026. The Greenwich High School and Indiana University graduate in December was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list for Social Impact, recognizing his work building Kibu and modernizing services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Growing national footprint As Medicaid oversight has tight- ened, disability service providers face growing pressure to document services accurately, Caridi said, even as many organizations continue to rely on outdated or fragmented systems. Kibu now works with about 300 disability service providers across 39 states, according to Caridi. Clients include Connecticut-based Abilis, Chimes and several state chapters of the Arc of the United States. Caridi estimates the software is used by organizations serving roughly 30,000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Kibu operates out of a 3,000-square-foot headquarters at Stamford's Cohen Abilis Advance- ment Center and employs 23 people, including software engineers and sales staff. The company also works with contracted coaches who produce short, live-streamed classes and on-demand content focused on fitness, life skills and job readiness for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Caridi said the company is focused on expanding adoption of its elec- tronic health record software through industry conferences and partner- ships as it seeks to scale nationally. AT A GLANCE Kibu Industry: Health Technology Software Top Executive: Daniel Caridi, Co-Founder & CEO HQ: Stamford Employees: 23 Website: www.kibu.com Matt McCooe

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