Founded by serial entrepreneur Kevin Ryan, AlleyCorp is both a startup studio and fund that founds companies and invests in early stage companies. AlleyCorp is exclusively focused on investing in transformational companies in New York City. Since its inception, we have launched companies that have raised over $1B+ in funding with an aggregate value of $10B+. As a venture / idea studio, AlleyCorp originates the idea, forms the founding team, funds the initial 6-12 months, launches the company, and maintains integral leadership throughout the company's lifecycle. Some companies that have been founded through AlleyCorp include MongoDB, Business Insider, Gilt Groupe, Zola, Nomad Health, Workframe, and CoEdition.  AlleyCorp will also invest in very early stage companies usually as the first seed investor.  Moreover, we believes in supporting first time founders. Our goal is to co-create and invest in truly transformational companies with inspiring leaders.

AlleyCorp

City Light is a venture capital firm that invests early in impactful companies. They partner with experienced teams building category-defining solutions in the areas of education, safety and care, and the environment - where more revenue equals better lives at scale, every time. As one of the earliest and most successful impacts investing firms, City Light has a track record of identifying and scaling impact in ways that build better companies.  The firm was founded in 2004 and is based in New York, New York. Some of its key portfolio investments are 2U (Nasdaq: TWOU), ShotSpotter (Nasdaq: SSTI), Trilogy Education, and Ready Responders.

City Light Capital

Kapor Capital is an investment firm that invests in early-stage tech-enabled startups. They are an Oakland-based fund that understands that startup companies have the ability to transform entire industries and to address urgent social needs as they do so. It was founded in 1999 and headquartered in Oakland, California.

Kapor Capital

Founded in 2016 and based in San Francisco, Acumen America is the US arm of the non-profit global venture capital investment firm Acumen. Acumen America is the leading early-stage (pre-seed and seed) venture capital firm investing in innovative solutions to three systemic symptoms of poverty in America: unequal workforce development, health inequities and financial instability.  We believe that lasting change requires big, new ideas designed to scale.

Acumen America

ARTIS Ventures is a financial services firm that finances early-to-late-stage venture investments. The team supports its portfolio companies through their entire life cycle, from initial venture investment to public offering and beyond.

Artis Ventures (AV)

What If Ventures invests in stigmatized verticals within the healthcare market. For too long, stigma has artificially suppressed demand for care in indications such as mental health, fertility, and many others.  Societal changes are creating markets where stigma once stood in the way of people getting the care they need. The firm was founded in 2019 by Stephen Hays, after his own personal struggles with mental health and addiction fueled his desire to see more funding for solutions in that space.  Since then, the firm has broadened its aperture and has deployed nearly $80mm into more than 60 disruptive healthcare startups.

What If Ventures

Samsung NEXT Ventures is an investment arm of Samsung NEXT, a multifaceted innovation group within Samsung Electronics dedicated to identifying new growth opportunities that will define the next decade. The firm prefers to invest in artificial intelligence, fintech, blockchain, health technology, infrastructure, and media technology sectors.

Samsung NEXT

LifeArc Ventures a self-funding medical research charity that invests in Seed and Series-A stage Biotech and Healthtech companies.

LifeArc Ventures

Affect Therapeutics

Affect Therapeutics offers an integrated digital treatment program for drug and alcohol addiction via a mobile app. They provide treatments for a variety of substance use disorders. The program provides financial incentives to encourage healthy behaviors and new habits.

Affect Therapeutics is a digital therapeutic provider that offers digital treatments solutions for both alcohol and substance abuse. The company’s solution, Affect, operates via an app and provides users with daily challenges to encourage sobriety and a healthy lifestyle. The app also has in-built functions to offer users one-on-one sessions with counselors, access to therapy groups, psychiatric consultations, and periodic drug/alcohol screenings. The app utilizes gamified mechanics, including providing monetary rewards for completing tasks and additional rewards for maintaining and 'streaks' of sobriety, to improve user stickiness. The company provides a variety of treatment plans to encourage users to quit habit forming substances such as alcohol, marijuana, meth, cocaine, or prescription stimulants.

New technologies are opening up mental health services to previously overbooked and underserved populations.

Mental Health Tech

McLean addiction treatment startup Affect Therapeutics raises $16M to fuel U.S. expansion

Affect Therapeutics is a digital therapeutic provider that offers digital treatments solutions for both alcohol and substance abuse. The company’s solution, Affect, operates via an app and provides users with daily challenges to encourage sobriety and a healthy lifestyle. The app also has in-built functions to offer users one-on-one sessions with counselors, access to therapy groups, psychiatric consultations, and periodic drug/alcohol screenings. The app utilizes gamified mechanics, including providing monetary rewards for completing tasks and additional rewards for maintaining and 'streaks' of sobriety, to improve user stickiness. The company provides a variety of treatment plans to encourage users to quit habit forming substances such as alcohol, marijuana, meth, cocaine, or prescription stimulants.Key customers and partnershipsThe company operates both on a D2C basis as well as a B2B2C basis, working with healthcare providers to offer its solution to users while accepting most health plans for access. As of July 2023, the company has outpatient treatment licenses in 20 states and aims to cover a majority of the US population by the end of 2023.As of September 2024, the company had secured several partnerships with major health plans such as UnitedHealthcare, Aetna, Humana, Molina, and Centene.

Boulder Care is a telehealth provider that offers virtual addiction treatment for substance use disorders, primarily focusing on opioid and alcohol use disorders. The company provides medical care, medication management, peer recovery coaching, and case management services through a mobile app, allowing patients to connect with a multidisciplinary care team, including physicians, nurse practitioners, peer recovery specialists, and social services support. Boulder Care's treatment approach includes medication-assisted treatment (MAT), prescribing medications such as buprenorphine-naloxone (Suboxone) for opioid use disorder and naltrexone, acamprosate, and others for alcohol use disorder. The company also delivers naloxone doses to patients to help reverse opioid overdoses.The company has implemented value-based payment arrangements with insurers, tying its financial success to patient outcomes. As of May 2024, Boulder Care had served over 12,000 patients across multiple states, with a concentration in Washington, Oregon, and Ohio. The company reports retention rates of 70%–80% of patients remaining in treatment after six months, significantly above the national average. Boulder Care had also expanded its services to include treatment for adolescents as of January 2024.Key customers and partnershipsBoulder Care has established partnerships with numerous health plans and employers to provide access to its services, including Elevance Health, UnitedHealth Community Plan, and Centene.

Boulder Care

<div>
 
 7 Cups provides an emotional-support platform with a network of volunteer listeners. Users can anonymously access either one-on-one chats or group chats 24/7, free of charge for issues such as depression, anxiety, relationships and those related to the LGBTQ+ community. It also teaches users skills such as meditation to improve their lives. If users want additional support, the company also provides access to an online therapy platform with a network of 180 licensed therapists for a subscription plan of USD 150 per month. 7 Cups is available for users above 13 years of age (users between 13 and 17 years old engage with listeners who are specifically trained in teenage interactions).
 
 
 Volunteer peer listeners get free training and support as well as flexible scheduling. Once a user requests a chat, it will be directed to available listeners and if the user requests a specific listener, he will be connected as soon as the listener accepts the demand. The service is anonymous and the listener has no access to the details of the user unless the information is disclosed to the listener by the user in their conversations. As of January 2022, 7 Cups has facilitated more than 51 million conversations, served 25 million individuals, and had 300,000 trained listeners. The listeners serve in 180 countries in 140 languages.
 
</div>

7 Cups

wayForward provides technology-supported behavioral health and emotional wellness services for employers planning to make services available to their employees. It uses a screening procedure designed by neuropsychologists to triage and help employee members get clinically relevant mental healthcare. The company provides a self-guided app, text-based coaching, video visits, telepsychiatry, and if required, in-person visits or an on-site counselor. wayForward leverages its evidence-based approach and artificial intelligence in delivering its services and claims that it has been able to reduce anxiety symptoms by 48% and depression symptoms by 59%.The company raised USD 2 million in a seed round in June 2020, which brought total funding to USD 4.5 million. DarioHealth, a chronic disease management platform based in Israel, signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of wayForward in May 2021 for a total consideration of USD 30 million. As of May 2021, the wayForward had approximately 20,000 members and was available in North America, Australia, and Europe.

wayForward

Coa is a mental health company that conducts online classes led by licensed therapists for mental health users. The classes focus on conditions such as stress, anxiety, confidence and relationships. The company raised USD 3 million in a seed round in October 2020 from investors led by Crosslink Capital.

Meru Health is an online platform that connects patients experiencing stress, depression, anxiety, burnout, and other mental health issues to licensed therapists. The company was founded by Kristian Ranta in 2016 after his older brother died from suicide after battling depression. The platform offers a 12-week program and personalized text-based coaching services and virtual workshops. Meru also provides access to progress reports and anonymous peer support groups as well as sleep, nutrition, and mindfulness advice. The program utilizes a wearable device that monitors heart rate variability and provides real-time feedback, allowing patients to visualize the connection between their mental and physical health.In March 2024, Meru Health introduced a 100% fees-at-risk pricing model for healthcare payers and employers, guaranteeing outcomes, access, and engagement. This value-based care approach aims to incentivize enrollment, quality care delivery, cost management, and medical cost savings.The company reported a 10x YoY growth in its customer base in 2020 and plans to serve 10 million users by 2027. The company also achieved 8x YoY growth in revenue in 2020 amid an increase in demand in mental health services brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.Key customers and partnershipsMeru Health partners with major health insurance providers, including Humana, Aetna, and Moda Health. In January 2022, the company joined Evernorth's national behavioral health provider network, making its services available to Cigna health plan customers accessing benefits through their employer or individual and family plans.Meru Health also works with employer groups to provide mental healthcare for employees. In September 2022, Meru Health and clinical trial platform Curebase <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/13230">announced a partnership </a>to carry out a three-year clinical trial to measure the effectiveness of Meru Health’s 12-week digital depression treatment targeting primary care patients. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s Small Business Innovation Research program.

Meru Health

Online peer-to-peer platform and support system that connects mental health communities.

Mobile-based apps and FDA-approved software that incorporate evidenced-based cognitive behavioral therapy to prevent, treat, or manage mental and behavioral conditions in conjunction with or as a replacement for traditional medication.

Products for behavioral health and mental health tracking, measurement-based care, and real-time remote monitoring of patients.

Subscription or membership-based platforms and apps to connect therapists, psychiatrists or behavioral health coaches with patients.

Offers virtual offerings for mental health consultations

Mental healthcare services offer personalized care tailored to a user's needs and treatment progression

There are mental health providers offering services specifically to help LGBTQ+ or BIPOC individuals

Several mental health technology providers offer therapy services rendered by AI/ML technology

Affect Therapeutics

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless