A caregiver assists an elderly woman with walking. The caregiver is smiling as the woman looks on with a smile.

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How Kizuna Built a Secure Care
Platform From Day One

A secure, enterprise-grade foundation for a two-sided caregiving marketplace, built to handle sensitive data and rapid growth from day one.

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Type

Two-Sided Marketplace Platform

Type

Two-Sided Marketplace Platform

Type

Two-Sided Marketplace Platform

Platform

Web, Mobile

Platform

Web, Mobile

Platform

Web, Mobile

Industry

Healthcare Technology, Caregiving

Industry

Healthcare Technology, Caregiving

Industry

Healthcare Technology, Caregiving

Spiral

Kizuna

Kizuna is a two-sided marketplace platform that connects families with professional caregivers. From sensitive healthcare data to real-time messaging, background checks, and financial transactions, Kizuna needed a platform that was secure, reliable, and built to scale.

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Key Results

Beyond the immediate metrics, this foundation secured Kizuna's market position and unlocked long-term, unhindered growth.

Beyond the immediate metrics, this foundation secured Kizuna's market position
and unlocked long-term, unhindered growth.

100x

user growth ready infrastructure, without needing to re-architect

100x

user growth ready infrastructure, without needing to re-architect

100x

user growth ready infrastructure, without needing to re-architect

40%

faster feature development with smoother onboarding for new developers

40%

faster feature development with smoother onboarding for new developers

40%

faster feature development with smoother onboarding for new developers

$500K+

in avoided costs from potential breaches and platform rebuilds

$500K+

in avoided costs from potential breaches and platform rebuilds

$500K+

in avoided costs from potential breaches and platform rebuilds

0

security incidents or downtime in the first 18 months

0

security incidents or downtime in the first 18 months

0

security incidents or downtime in the first 18 months

A caregiver holding hands.
A caregiver holding hands.
A caregiver holding hands.

The Challenge

When Kizuna's founders started building their platform, they faced a common healthcare startup challenge: speed vs. stability.

Many startups rush to launch with quick fixes, WordPress plugins, or basic frameworks, but the costs pile up fast:

Security breaches leading to compliance issues

Security breaches leading to compliance issues

Security breaches leading to compliance issues

The platform crashes under growing traffic

The platform crashes under growing traffic

The platform crashes under growing traffic

Expensive rewrites that delay growth by months

Expensive rewrites that delay growth by months

Expensive rewrites that delay growth by months

Kizuna wanted to avoid these traps by building
A platform with strong foundations from day one.

The Solution

Better Software partnered with Kizuna to deliver a product development approach that balanced speed and scalability with an architecture that would support growth without constant firefighting.

Our Approach

Security-first foundation

to meet healthcare data standards and avoid costly breaches

Security-first foundation

to meet healthcare data standards and avoid costly breaches

Security-first foundation

to meet healthcare data standards and avoid costly breaches

Scalable architecture

that could handle rapid user growth without performance issues

Scalable architecture

that could handle rapid user growth without performance issues

Scalable architecture

that could handle rapid user growth without performance issues

Streamlined developer onboarding

to accelerate feature delivery

Streamlined developer onboarding

to accelerate feature delivery

Streamlined developer onboarding

to accelerate feature delivery

Environment isolation and automated

processes to reduce deployment risks and increase reliability

Environment isolation and automated

processes to reduce deployment risks and increase reliability

Environment isolation and automated

processes to reduce deployment risks and increase reliability

Technology Used

The Impact

This strategic investment in product development directly addressed Kizuna's core challenges, delivering impact across every key metric

Challenges

Risk of costly security breaches

Limited scalability of quick MVP builds

Long onboarding cycles for new engineers

Frequent platform downtime

Secure, compliant systems that eliminate vulnerabilities
Platform designed to handle 100× user growth
Smooth ramp-up with 40% faster development cycles
Zero outages in the first 18 months

Before

Challenges

Challenges

Risk of costly security breaches

Risk of costly security breaches

Limited scalability of quick MVP builds

Limited scalability of quick MVP builds

Long onboarding cycles for new engineers

Long onboarding cycles for new engineers

Frequent platform downtime

Frequent platform downtime

After

Software
Software
Secure, compliant systems that eliminate vulnerabilities

Secure, compliant systems that eliminate vulnerabilities

Secure, compliant systems that eliminate vulnerabilities

Platform designed to handle 100× user growth

Platform designed to handle 100× user growth

Platform designed to handle 100× user growth

Smooth ramp-up with 40% faster development cycles

Smooth ramp-up with 40% faster development cycles

Smooth ramp-up with 40% faster development cycles

Zero outages in the first 18 months

Zero outages in the first 18 months

Zero outages in the first 18 months

Founder
Tommy Kranwinkle

Co-Founder, Kizuna

5.0

/

5.0

A platform to hire caregivers for elderly family members

"The items were delivered on top, and any issues that arose were quickly addressed."

Lessons For Others Founders

Lessons For Others Founders

Good foundations are not over-engineering; they're business insurance.

Good foundations are not over-engineering; they're business insurance.

Good foundations are not over-engineering; they're business insurance.

Focus on growth-ready, secure systems early to avoid technical debt that slows growth

Focus on growth-ready, secure systems early to avoid technical debt that slows growth

Focus on growth-ready, secure systems early to avoid technical debt that slows growth

Expect your investment in strong foundations to pay back within 6–8 months through faster delivery, fewer outages, and long-term savings.

Expect your investment in strong foundations to pay back within 6–8 months through faster delivery, fewer outages, and long-term savings.

Expect your investment in strong foundations to pay back within 6–8 months through faster delivery, fewer outages, and long-term savings.

Spiral

Ready To Build Your Foundation?
Let's Discuss Your Roadmap

Better Software helped the client build an automation-ready data platform that transformed how energy companies access and interact with their most valuable resource, their data. With the right engineering foundations, organizations don’t have to choose between speed and sophistication.

Better Software helped the client build a personal finance platform that was secure, intelligent, and ready for growth—proving that with the right product development approach, fintech startups don’t have to choose between moving fast and building strong.

Better Software helped the client build a personal finance platform that was secure, intelligent, and ready for growth—proving that with the right product development approach, fintech startups don’t have to choose between moving fast and building strong.

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