Handspring, which offers virtual mental health for youth and their families, announced it scored $12 million in Series A funding,
Cobalt Ventures led the round, with participation from Arkitekt Ventures, Hyde Park Angels (HPA), nvp capital, NextView Ventures, Cornucopian Capital, VamosVentures and 25madison. Two unnamed health plans also joined the round.
Dipa Mehta of Valeo Ventures and Rob Go of NextView Ventures joined the company’s board of directors.
WHAT IT DOES
The company offers pediatric virtual mental healthcare for youth and their families, including access to therapists with a focus on skills-based cognitive behavioral therapy.
Handspring’s offerings include access to fully employed, trained therapists, age-appropriate skill-building, parental involvement, collaborative and active participation, a strengths-based perspective, and progress tracking and feedback.
“While we’ve made strides in expanding access to care, we’ve simultaneously allowed quality standards to erode. Patients deserve more than just an available therapist – they deserve evidence-based treatment, genuine therapeutic relationships, and measurable progress toward recovery,” Sahil Choudhry, CEO and cofounder of Handspring, said in a statement.
“This funding is so important because it helps us continue to build a system that truly cares about the long-term well-being of every child and family we serve.”
MARKET SNAPSHOT
In 2022, Handspring, also known as Handspring Health, closed a $6.2 million seed round led by Newark Venture Partners and NextView Ventures.
A large portion of U.S. children and adolescents receive outpatient mental healthcare through video visits, according to a study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry.
There was a notable expansion of virtual telehealth-based mental healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the study states this is likely to be an enduring feature of outpatient care delivery for children and adolescents.
Another organization offering pediatric mental health services is virtual care company Teladoc, which last year announced a partnership with pediatric virtual behavioral health company Brightline to extend mental healthcare options for children, adolescents and their families through Teladoc’s platform.
Brightline offers children and their families virtual behavioral health services and works with employers and major insurers to provide coaching and therapy services.
Through the partnership, members under 18 years of age and their caregivers will have access to Brightline’s mental healthcare solutions for a wide range of conditions through Teladoc’s platform.
