Hopelab is a social innovation lab and impact investor advancing entrepreneurs, research, digital health, and solutions that support and empower young people, especially those from historically underserved communities. The organization works to remove systemic barriers to youth mental health and emotional well-being through targeted social impact investments, hands-on design and research support for digital innovation, and translational science partnerships. Learn more at hopelab.org.

Hopelab

Headstream Challenge, seeks to find avenues to source and accelerate a cohort of innovators and an ecosystem that rethinks and reshapes social technologies to support teen wellbeing.

Headstream Innovation

Lockstep Ventures is a venture capital firm seeking to address the issues that perpetuate racial inequality in the U.S., which is co-founded by serial entrepreneur and venture investor Michael Loeb, marketing guru and venture investor Bonin Bough, and criminal justice advocate and venture investor Marcus Glover. The mission of the $25M fund is to work, inspire, and empower systematic change while also working hand-in-hand with entrepreneurs to provide successful business formulas to provide a wide range of expertise to help execute, pivot, and fast-track a start-up's growth. Lockstep Ventures is committed to the investment philosophy of ''Disparity to Prosperity'' and targets companies that address racial disparities in health, wealth, education, and justice/recidivism

Lockstep Ventures

The Portland Seed Fund invest in pre-seed and seed-stage companies across the Pacific Northwest. The majority of investments are in Oregon, with 10-20% of investments in other parts of the Northwest. Typical initial investment size of $50,000-$100,000 with participation in multiple follow on rounds. Sector agnostic - the largest sector is B2B software / SaaS with investments in data center infrastructure, AR/VR, health care IT, direct-to-consumer, e-commerce, mobile, cleantech, food, and apparel. 10-20 investments per year. Now investing out of third fund with more than $20 million AUM. Since 20011 PSF has invested $8 million in more than 90 companies who have gone on to raise more than $370 million from other sources.    More than half of PSF companies have a female or person of color on the founding team, and more than a third have a female CEO.

Portland Seed Fund

Genius Guild is a business creation platform that supports market-driven innovations to end racism. Using a venture studio model, it invests in Black entrepreneurs building scalable businesses that serve black communities and beyond. The company applies an investment lens that actively addresses the ways in which capitalism and capitalist markets have been manipulated to limit, exclude, and defraud black communities, creating 360 value for communities, investors, and entrepreneurs. Genius Guild was founded by Kathryn Finney, one of Inc. Magazine's ''Most Influential Women in Tech'' and the visionary founder of The Doonie Fund, The Budget Fashionista, and digitalundivided and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.

Genius Guild

Timeless Ventures is a venture capital firm investing in companies creating brand new industries that fundamentally change our daily lives.

Timeless Ventures

Techstars is a global platform that provides investment and innovation. Through the Techstars Worldwide Entrepreneur Network, founders and their teams connect with other entrepreneurs, experts, mentors, alumni, investors, community leaders, and corporate partners who will help their companies grow. Techstars operates four divisions: Techstars Mentorship-Driven Accelerator Program supercharges success and Techstars Startup Programs inspire, educate, and connect entrepreneurs. Techstars Venture Capital Fund invests in innovative and disruptive companies. Techstars Corporate Innovation Partnerships help brands create products and services. Techstars' accelerator portfolio includes more than 1,000 companies with a market cap of $8.1 billion.

Techstars

PACE Healthcare Capital is an early-stage VC firm, deploying financial and human capital, to support the healthcare of tomorrow. Founded in 2020, PACE has worked with digital healthcare and health technology companies that are led by industrious and innovative entrepreneurs who are committed to improving healthcare outcomes and reducing costs for everyone.

PACE Healthcare Capital

Rethink Education is a venture capital fund focused exclusively on education technology that invests in early- and growth-stage start-ups looking to scale their solutions both domestically and across the globe.

Rethink Education

ECMC is a non-profit corporation that supports the administration of the Federal Family Education Loan Program as a student loan guaranty agency. It sponsors programs to help students and families plan and pay for college. ECMC works with schools and loan servicers to lower student loan default rates, promote financial literacy, and provide resources to support student loan borrowers to repay their loans. It provides postsecondary institutions with a suite of services that includes financial literacy, student loan repayment counseling, and default prevention. ECMC is headquartered in Oakdale, Pennsylvania.

ECMC

Bridge Builder Collaborative aims to support social entrepreneurs focused on scalable applications, practices, products, and tools.

Bridge Builders Collaborative

Collab Capital is an investment fund that provides social and financial resources to Black-owned companies. The firm is creating a growth solution for Black founders seeking capital, who value profitability, ownership, and optionality. They leveraging financial, human, and social capital to help founders build sustainable, technology-enabled businesses.  Collab Capital's mission is to establish an institution that provides a viable pathway to sustained wealth for the Black community. Through their investment programs, they guide portfolio companies to increased revenue and profitability instead of continuously raising valuations through modern venture capital funding. Collab Capital was founded in 2019 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Collab Capital

Unlikely Collaborators offers storytelling events, workshops, and community sessions to assist people in wellness and personal development.

Unlikely Collaborators

Backpack Healthcare

Backpack Healthcare is a digital mental health company that focuses on youth, family behavioral, and mental healthcare.

Backpack Healthcare is a healthcare technology company dedicated to pediatric mental healthcare. The company offers an AI-powered app called Hello Backpack and teletherapy services designed to provide accessible, inclusive, and comprehensive mental health support for children, adolescents, and young adults.

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

Mental Health Tech

Backpack Healthcare lands $14 million for youth mental health services

Backpack Healthcare is a healthcare technology company dedicated to pediatric mental healthcare. The company offers an AI-powered app called Hello Backpack and teletherapy services designed to provide accessible, inclusive, and comprehensive mental health support for children, adolescents, and young adults.Launched in March 2024, the Hello Backpack app utilizes interactive, developmentally appropriate workbooks featuring animated characters, stories, and games to help young individuals identify, understand, and cope with their emotional and psychological challenges. The app's content is informed by an intensive eight-week study conducted in collaboration with a local Maryland high school, focusing on substance abuse in teens. The app empowers users, their families, and caregivers with clinically backed care through mood tracking, journaling, and personalized care plans.Backpack Healthcare's AI technology uses advanced algorithms to monitor user emotions and match them with specialized therapists to develop tailored treatment plans. The app aims to make therapy engaging and encourage active participation through interactive tools and activities. Alongside the app, the company provides individual pediatric and family therapy, medication management through telemedicine, and live parent training sessions on topics such as cyberbullying and substance abuse.In August 2023, Backpack Healthcare acquired Hurdle Health, a digital mental health platform providing culturally sensitive self-care support for people of color, further enhancing its capabilities in delivering inclusive and culturally intentional mental healthcare.Key customers and partnershipsAs of May 2024, Backpack Healthcare operated in Maryland and Virginia, with plans to expand to additional states. Furthermore, the company partners with insurance providers that accept Medicaid.

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

Backpack Healthcare

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless