A Fresh Start-Up for SRS Labs’ Janet Biski

Leaving the security of a six-figure salary plus options at the publicly held SRS Labs Inc., Janet Biski last week said she will be co-founding a health care staffing start-up in Dana Point.

Her new company, AccentCare, already has received more than $5 million in venture capital financing from three firms, Biski said. AccentCare, which will be headed by Chief Executive David Barry and President Joe Davis, plans to acquire agencies around the country that provide assisted daily living to people in their homes.

“The demographics of the aging population is huge, and a lot of people don’t want to go into these institutional homes. They want to stay in their own homes where they actually fare better,” Biski said.

AccentCare plans to grow through acquisitions and already has “a couple of acquisitions lined up,” Biski said. The market is large but fragmented, with more than 8,000 such firms around the country, she said.

“We’re going to consolidate and provide centralized billing and administration to them,” Biski said.

Biski had nothing but praise for SRS, where she will remain until April 16 and then take an advisory role as the company searches for her replacement.

“I’m very sorry to leave,” Biski said. “I’ve been here from the beginning, and it was such a great company.”

Deciding whether to leave her position at SRS to join the eight-member start-up required a meeting with her husband and children.

“It was a big family decision and they were very supportive,” Biski said. “I told them I would have to take a pay cut and that they’re not going to get as many things as before.”

Naturally, her sons had concerns.

“They were afraid their allowances might be taken down,” said Biski, who said her 10- and 5-year-old sons receive their age in dollars per week. She declined to say how the negotiations went.

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Jonathan Gaw covers technology and electronic commerce for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7818 and at jonathan.gaw@latimes.com.