The 7wire Ventures’ vision is to use the power of mobility, connected devices, the cloud, and sophisticated analytics to further advance industries like healthcare and education. We like to make a difference in things that matter.  The firm was founded on the concept of disrupting the status quo—supporting new ideas, technologies, approaches, and business models for solving society’s most important problems.  7wire Ventures provides funding and operating guidance to companies that challenge the “way things are done.” Through the creation of new businesses, investments in early and growth stage companies, and by complementing funds with insight and experience, we have a track record of transforming great ideas into world-class companies.

7wire Ventures

Sidebench is a leading Corporate Digital Innovation Lab and Startup Venture Studio dedicated to partnering with our clients to identify, develop, and launch strategic technology solutions. Sidebench invests in select early stage B2B startups and often partners with corporate clients. Key clients include: Red Bull, NBCUniversal, Oakley, Facebook, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Andreessen Horowitz, Sony Pictures, Cedars-Sinai, Instagram, and many more.

Sidebench

HPA operates in the financial services sector, focusing on early-stage investments. The company's People First model combines venture capital, a robust business network, and top-tier operating expertise to support the growth of its portfolio companies. HPA's services extend to all stages of a company's lifecycle, from seed to growth stages, providing financial and strategic support to help businesses thrive. It was founded in 2007 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

HPA (Hyde Park Angels)

Chicago Ventures partners closely with exceptional entrepreneurs building companies in undercapitalized high-potential ecosystems.

Chicago Ventures

Venture capital fund focused on early healthcare opportunities in the US.

Meridian Street Capital

Health Enterprise Partners (HEP) is a healthcare private equity firm focused on health care services and information technology companies whose customers are typically hospital systems or health plans.

Health Enterprise Partners

Kaiser Permanente Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Kaiser Permanente, is dedicated to forming effective partnerships with innovative companies. Kaiser Permanente Ventures invests predominantly in HCIT and services, as well as diagnostics, drug delivery and therapeutic medical devices.

Kaiser Permanente Ventures

Eight Roads Ventures is a global venture capital firm managing $11bn of assets across offices in the UK, China, India, Japan, and the US. Together with our associated funds, including our US sister fund F-Prime Capital, our 50-year history of investing includes partnerships with over 500 companies such as Alibaba, AppsFlyer, Chewy, Fareye, Fever, Flywire, Fireblocks, Funnel.io, Gloat, Hibob, Icertis, Neo4j, Otrium, Owkin, Paidy, Spendesk, Tibber, Toast, Wallapop and Xoom.

Eight Roads Ventures

F-Prime's roots are in one of America’s great entrepreneurial success stories. Fidelity Investments was founded in 1946 and grew from a single mutual fund into one of the largest asset management firms in the world, with over $2 trillion in assets under management. For the last forty years, this venture capital group has had the privilege of backing other great entrepreneurs as they built ground-breaking companies in technology and life sciences, including Atari, MCI, ROLM Corp., Alibaba, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, and Ultragenyx.  Today, F-Prime's funds are larger and more global, but its teams are still small and local. F-Prime stays true to its entrepreneurial roots. In the US and Europe, F-Prime Capital Partners is investing in healthcare (formerly Fidelity Biosciences) and in technology (formerly part of Devonshire Investors). In other geographies, its sister fund is called Eight Roads (formerly Fidelity Growth Partners), with investment teams in London, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Mumbai.   Together F-Prime brings a world of insight, domain expertise and relationships to support entrepreneurs. Without the pressure of fundraising from outside investors, F-Prime Capital Partners focuses all of its time finding and helping great entrepreneurs build important companies.

F-Prime Capital

Longitude Capital specializes in making venture growth investments in biotechnology and medical technology companies that seek to improve clinical outcomes, enhance the quality of life, and/or reduce system costs. They invest in both privately held and publicly traded life science companies through a variety of investment approaches. Since 2006, Longitude Capital has raised over $1.2 billion across three funds and demonstrated an ability to source, manage and exit attractive investments across multiple market cycles. Their venture growth strategy is rooted in building a balanced portfolio of clinical-stage and commercial-stage companies with clinically de-risked assets, favorable valuations relative to risk profile, and attractive expected returns within three to five years from the initial investment. Longitude Capital seeks to identify new investment opportunities by tapping into their broad network of industry relationships or through the execution of intensive thematic research into emerging therapeutic areas or industry sub-sectors. They utilize a variety of investment structures, including traditional venture capital, asset spin-outs, recapitalizations, PIPEs, open market purchases, royalties, and other equity and equity-linked instruments.

Longitude Capital

Cigna Ventures is the arm venture of Cigna, that accelerate growth of start ups in health care industry. The company's mission is to accelerate Cigna’s ability to improve the health, well-being and sense of security of the people we serve by partnering with and investing in innovative companies, and delivering differentiated value in the marketplace. It focuses on harnessing transformative ideas in insights and analytics; digital health and retail; and care delivery and management.

Cigna Ventures

NOCD

NOCD is an online OCD therapy platform that helps people with OCD get better and then stay better. With NOCD, users can have face-to-face video therapy sessions with licensed therapists that specialize in OCD, as well as get 24/7 support between sessions from self-help tools and peer communities.

<div><p>Chicago-based NOCD is a community-driven teletherapy provider for patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) through a mobile app. NOCD connects patients with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)-trained therapists via video-based live consultations and offers personalized care plans for OCD treatment. The app helps users keep track of ERP exercises and also provides self-help tools, peer group access to its members, and the ability to receive 24/7 support in-between sessions from the therapist.</p></div>

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

Mental Health Tech

<div>
  <p>
    Chicago-based NOCD is a community-driven teletherapy provider for patients with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) through a mobile app. NOCD connects patients with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)-trained therapists via video-based live consultations and offers personalized care plans for OCD treatment. The app helps users keep track of ERP exercises and also provides self-help tools, peer group access to its members, and the ability to receive 24/7 support in-between sessions from the therapist.
  </p>
  <p>
    The platform covers a range of OCD subtypes in areas such as contamination, hoarding, and relationships. The app was available in the US, Australia, Ontario (Canada), and the UK. As of January 2023, the company has p
    rovided over 250,000 sessions annually and has a network of over 300 OCD-specialized therapists.&nbsp;
  </p>
  <p>
    A clinical study&nbsp;conducted by the Columbia University Medical Center on NOCD&rsquo;s mobile app-integrated ERP treatment showed a reduction in OCD severity by an average of 40% in 8 weeks. The company partners with major US health plans to make it affordable, gain wider customer reach, and collaborates with life science companies to develop new solutions.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Funding and financials</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    In February 2023, the company raised USD 34 million in a funding round co-led by Cigna Ventures and 7wireVentures, along with participation from other venture capital firms. 
    The funds were set aside to speed up the expansion of its network of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)-specialized therapists. Additionally, the company also earmarked the funds to invest in enhancing its analytics and outcome capabilities
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Funding and financials</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
</div>


Boulder Care

<div>
  <p>
    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).
  </p>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
</div>


7 Cups

<div>
  <p>
    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%.
  </p>
  <p>
    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. 
  </p>
  <p>
  </p>
</div>


wayForward

<div>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
</div>


<div>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Key customers and partnerships</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    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. 
  </p>
  <p>
    <b></b>
  </p>
  <p>
    <b>Fundings and financials</b>
  </p>
  <p>
    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.
  </p>
</div>


Meru Health

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

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

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.

NOCD

Mental Health Tech

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NOCD raises USD 34 million in funding round

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