Brave Health plans to make behavioral health care more accessible to low-income Americans after raising $10 million from investors.
Backed by new capital, the Miami-based virtual clinic is scaling across 10 states to serve an additional 65 million patients covered by Medicaid. Brave Health offers virtual outpatient services for mental health and addiction treatments, an alternative to traditional in-person services that can be difficult for vulnerable populations to access.
“As demand for behavioral health care continues to grow, the gap between people who need services and those who are receiving services has continued to widen, especially for those with Medicaid,” co-founder and CEO Anna Lindow said.
Brave Health reports the percentage of psychiatrists accepting Medicaid has declined by half over the past decade, leaving fewer health care providers for the estimated 75 million Americans covered by the government program. That presents an opportunity for the startup, which works with Medicaid case managers and health plans to provide virtual treatment alternatives that can lower the overall cost of care.
"We’re focused on changing the narrative about Medicaid-based innovation and delivering sustainable solutions designed to improve behavioral health outcomes for millions of people," Lindow said.
Brave Health received 11,000 referrals from primary care physicians, health plan case managers and hospitals in the first 10 months of 2021. About two-thirds of the referred patients signed up for care services, the company reports. And they're not only Medicaid patients: The virtual clinic also accepts Medicare and other major insurance plans.
Since its 2019 founding, Brave Health has raised nearly $21 million, including this week's $10 million series B financing led by venture capital firms City Light Capital, Union Square Ventures and Able Partners. The company has 160 in-person and remote employees.
As part of the deal, City Light Capital Partner Josh Cohen joined Brave Health's board of directors as a strategic adviser.
"Their mission aligns with ours of improving the lives of those who have historically been left behind by both the traditional health care system and by the investment community," Cohen said in a statement.
Brave Health is currently accepted by health plans in Florida, North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia, Illinois, Texas, New York, Ohio, Michigan and Alabama.
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