Ballast Point Ventures led a $10.7 million Series A funding round for a Tampa-based behavioral health company alongside Oakland, California-based Kapor Capital and Raleigh, North Carolina-based Front Porch Ventures.
The investment marks the Tampa-based venture capital firm’s first investment in UpLift, a tech-driven value-based care organization that has now received roughly $22 million in total funding since its founding in 2020, according to a statement.
Kapor Capital and Front Porch Ventures are also first-time investors in UpLift. The startup’s existing venture capital partner, San Fransisco-based B Capital, also participated in the round.
The capital infusion will support UpLift’s expansion to additional behavioral health care providers, as well as to additional states beyond its current footprint in Florida, Washington D.C., Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia, according to the statement.
“We were early investors in UpLift because we share their belief that technology plays a vital role in providing accessible, affordable behavioral health care services,” B Capital General Partner Karen Page said.
UpLift connects health care providers with national and regional health insurance plans to expand access to affordable mental health treatment, for which fewer than 30% of therapists accept insurance for payment, according to the statement. UpLift is contracting with national Medicaid managed care provider AmeriHealth Caritas District of Columbia, among others, and will collaborate to enroll new and existing network providers onto its platform.
“We have long been interested in investing in the behavioral health segment of the health care industry, especially as we saw access to mental health services become even more of a challenge during the pandemic,” Ballast Point Ventures Partner Matt Rice said in the statement.
