Virginia Venture Partners is a family of seed-stage investment funds placing near-equity and equity investments in Virginia-based technology, life science, and cleantech companies. Virginia Venture Partners invests in companies with a high potential for achieving rapid growth and generating significant economic returns for entrepreneurs, co-investors, and the Commonwealth of Virginia. CIT’s family of funds includes: GAP Fund I is a vintage 2004 fund fully invested in a broad array of seed-stage technology companies. Portfolio. GAP BioLife Fund is a seed fund investing exclusively in life science companies. GAP Tech Fund is a seed fund investing in IT and technology companies.

Virginia Venture Partners

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

Beta Boom invests in several verticals with a particular emphasis on fintech, digital health, and SaaS in industrials, construction, manufacturing, SMB. The firm invests in software startups at the pre-seed and seed stages.  Beta Boom looks for founders with diverse life, education, and professional experiences, who are based outside of Silicon Valley. They have an open-application process and respond to all submissions: https://betaboom.com/apply/. Investment criteria here: https://betaboom.com/investment-criteria/

Beta Boom

StartUp Health is investing in a global army of Health Transformers to achieve health moonshots. StartUp Health is on a 30-year mission to collaborate with entrepreneurs to improve the health and wellbeing of everyone in the world. Since 2011, StartUp Health has been investing in a global army of entrepreneurs -- called Health Transformers -- to achieve health moonshots: Access to Care, Cost to Zero, Cure Disease, End to Cancer, Women’s Health, Children’s Health, Nutrition and Fitness, Brain Health, Mental Health and Happiness, Addiction, Longevity, and Pandemic Response.   StartUp Health has the world’s largest health innovation portfolio with more than 330 companies across six continents and 26 countries and is backed by leading investors including Advocate Aurora Health, Chiesi, Steve Case, Mark Cuban, Esther Dyson, Brad Feld, GuideWell, Jason Finger, Jerry Levin, Kaiser Permanente, Masimo, Novartis, Otsuka, and Ping An.

StartUp Health

Canopie

Canopie offers a digital platform that addresses symptoms of maternal depression and anxiety. It aims to prevent and address maternal mental health disorders through customized, audio-based programs and automated coaching using clinically validated, recommended therapeutic techniques. Canopie works with cities, payers, health systems, and providers to deliver effective, low-cost care to moms that works for them and can be easily scaled - tackling the key treatment barriers of cost, scheduling, time, and stigma.

DC-based Canopie is a maternal mental health-focused startup. It offers a tailored 12-day program to prevent and treat mental health-related conditions experienced by expectant and new mothers. Its services include access to audio sessions as well as techniques to manage stress, anxious thoughts, and low mood through mental health check-ins, ongoing support, reflection exercises, quick mood boosts, mini courses and over 60 challenge sessions.

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

Mental Health Tech

Canopie raises funding to provide maternal mental health support

DC-based Canopie is a maternal mental health-focused startup. It offers a tailored 12-day program to prevent and treat mental health-related conditions experienced by expectant and new mothers. Its services include access to audio sessions as well as techniques to manage stress, anxious thoughts, and low mood through mental health check-ins, ongoing support, reflection exercises, quick mood boosts, mini courses and over 60 challenge sessions.Canopie’s program is built based on over 50 control trials which proved significant treatment effects effects from various therapies that are incorporated into its program. As of July 2022, the program is available in English and Spanish.The firm operates a B2B2C business model and partners with health plans, self-insured employers, and integrated delivery networks.Funding and financialsIt received its most recent investment in July 2022 when it raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Virginia Venture Partners, the equity investment arm of the Virginia Innovation Partnership Corporation. The funds were allocated to obtain customers in healthcare delivery fields in order to test the market readiness of the company’s solution.

<div>
 
 Boulder Care is a telepsychiatry platform that connects patients who are opioid-addicted users to addiction specialists, care coordinators, and peer coaches. Patients can get personalized plans via video and text messaging and the app is intended to be used in conjunction with prescription medicines and lab tests.
 
 
 Funding and financials
 
 
 In June 2022, the company raised USD 36 million in a Series B funding round. The funds were earmarked to triple the size of the company’s medical care team, expand its geographical footprint, and increase its value-based care treatment options through partnerships with health plans.
 
</div>

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.

<div>
 
 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 on top of vital tracking information—such as heart rate data.
 
 
 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 partnerships
 
 
 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. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fundings and financials
 
 
 In May 2022, the company secured a USD 2 million grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to measure the effectiveness of its 12-week program for treating primary care patients. The study will follow 300 patients across the US with symptoms of major depression for a period of three years.
 
</div>

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

Canopie

About EDGE

Contact Us

Resources

Area of Focus

Technology Research Made Effortless