Recognizing the importance of understanding cultural differences, tele-therapy startup Hurdle raised a $5 million Seed round to scale its digital mental health platform that focuses on the needs of the black community. Proceeds will be used to expand its leadership team and to firmly establish its position as the Gold Standard of Culturally Sensitive Tele-therapy—while also positioning it to reach insurers and large employers directly.
“With depression spiking in Black and minority communities, this year is an inflection point in mental healthcare. The events of 2020 present a unique opportunity for Hurdle to create solutions that work for anyone, but most importantly, for the most underserved populations,” says Kevin Dedner, Founder and CEO of Hurdle.
Dedner’s concerns and motivation came from his 15 plus years of experience as a public health leader that exposed him to the specific health challenges of underserved communities. While the launch and growth of Hurdle is timely to counter the mental health impact of the pandemic, the startup was still faced with the major challenge of funding—no small feat as the funding of black founders or ventures focusing on mostly black services or products significantly lags in the venture capital community. Something that James Norman addressed in his post “A VC’s Guide to Investing in Black Founders” re-published by the Harvard Business Review.
Hurdle’s proprietary scientifically-validated tool measures cultural responsiveness that is used to determine the appropriate training and coaching for its therapists. Research revealed that therapists who are seen as having “Cultural Humility” achieve better outcomes for their patients. Dr. Norma Day-Vine, Johns Hopkins professor of Counseling and Human Development, worked closely with Hurdle to develop four core services:
- Self-care digital apps used for daily motivations, mediations, assessments,
- Wellness workshops focusing on stress, resilience, coping with grief,
- Tele-therapy for individuals, couples and groups, and
- Through the use of technology, Hurdles cultivates a virtual safe space with culturally intentional content and services used for self-mastery and well-being.
As only one in three African-Americans who need mental health care receive it according to American Psychiatric Association, Hurdle’s investors came on board to support the startup’s efforts to address this unmet need. Their mutual goal is to remove or lower the barriers to mental healthcare experienced by People of Color. The venture’s backers include Boston-based 406 Ventures and Seae Ventures with participation from F-Prime.
Managing director of Seae Ventures Jason Robart, explains, “Historically, the venture capital community has underserved women and minority entrepreneurs. At Seae, we are committed to doing something about this and are excited to support Hurdle. We believe the company is poised to execute on its vision to lead much-needed change in the mental health care landscape, especially for the Black community.”
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