Health Wildcatters is a mentor-driven seed accelerator focused on improving healthcare by supporting entrepreneurs and healthcare startups. Healthcare IT, SaaS, digital health and mobile health companies are a fit, but they also encourage medical device, diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies to apply.   What They Look For:  Technology: Digital Health, mHealth, HealthIT, Medical Devices, Pharma, Diagnostics Customers: Hospitals, patients, doctors, anyone who could conceivably be a healthcare consumer Location: Any company founders who will live in Dallas for the program Founders: Well-rounded founder teams >1 person, demonstrated understanding of entrepreneurship, relevant technical and business knowledge Capital: Needing seed capital to support living expenses while bootstrapping, can make efficient use of limited capital, would generally be planning on self/angel/customer financing as a next step coming out of the program.

Health Wildcatters

Capital Factory is a venture capital firm and an accelerator that seeks to invest in seed-stage, early-stage, and later-stage companies. It accelerates companies in the software, media, and technology sectors. With boots on the ground in Austin, Dallas, and Houston, the firm meets entrepreneurs in Texas and introduces them to their first investors, employees, mentors, and customers.  In 2009, Sam Decker, Joshua Baer, and Bryan Menell co-founded Capital Factory in Austin, Texas.

Capital Factory

MassChallenge is a global non-profit organization that supports startups through accelerator programs. They were obsessed with helping promising startups across industries and regions around the world. In addition to providing expert mentorship, tailored curriculum, and unrivaled access to corporate partners, MassChallenge strengthens innovation-driven economic development around the world.

MassChallenge

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

Cloud 9

Cloud 9 is on a mission to disrupt massive waste and mistreatment of people with mental illness. Cloud 9’s proprietary patient-centric technology platform allows multidisciplinary care teams (including mental healthcare, primary care, substance use specialists and first responders) to communicate and share data with one another and their patients. They keep high risk patient populations engaged in treatment to keep them out of crisis, before they land in ERs, jails, courts or the streets. Their technology and service model innovation deliver a paradigm shift that can save billions for state and local budgets, while also helping underserved individuals. The larger social impact is that healthy minds create healthier communities, workplaces, homes, and future generations.

Cloud 9 is a healthcare app that allows psychiatrists to engage and treat patients while using the app to collaborate with other care team members such as primary care physicians, social services, first responders and addiction specialists. The solution integrates three functions, namely talk, test and track options that aim to prevent escalating patient conditions (such as keeping people with mental issues from danger to themselves and society). Cloud 9 primarily targets underfunded community healthcare organizations and claims that they have improved patient engagement and positive mentality in their users.

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

Mental Health Tech

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

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 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.
 
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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

Cloud 9

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