Mental health startup Hurdle raises $5m to accelerate expansion of its platform

Hurdle, an innovative digital mental health platform company, announced it has successfully closed a $5 million Series Seed financing co-led by 406 Ventures and Seae Ventures with participation from F-Prime. Hurdle will use the new capital to strategically scale its evidence-based and tech-enabled platform, designed to support culturally diverse populations' behavioral health needs.

Kevin Dedner, Founder and CEO, Hurdle: "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. With this financing, Hurdle will significantly expand its reach and be able to help corporate and payer customers cement their Diversity & Inclusion commitments by providing broader access to culturally-responsive mental health services."

The funding will enable Hurdle to expand its leadership team and solidify its position as the Gold Standard for Culturally Sensitive Teletherapy.  As Hurdle builds operational scale, it will offer its platform directly to insurers and large employers. 

Liam Donohue, Co-founder and Managing Partner, .406 Ventures explains, "Kevin and his team have made impressive strides in a short amount of time.  We are excited about what the next few years will bring and look forward to working with Kevin and this team to expand Hurdle's capacity to meet a large and important unmet need."

Jason Robart, Managing Director, Seae Ventures: "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."

Hurdle uses a proprietary scientifically-validated tool to measure cultural responsiveness and provide appropriate training and coaching for its therapists. Research shows that therapists whose patients perceive them as having Cultural Humility deliver meaningfully improved outcomes. Hurdle's approach was developed by Dr. Norma Day-Vine, Johns Hopkins professor of Counseling and Human Development and advisor to Hurdle. Hurdle's suite of services includes:

• Self-care digital apps (daily motivations, mediations, assessments);
• Wellness workshops (managing stress, cultivating resilience, coping with grief);
• Teletherapy (individual, couples and group therapy).

Hurdle leverages technology to cultivate a virtual safe space with culturally intentional content and services that support self-mastery and well-being. 

hurdle.co