Elemy, a digital healthcare company that specializes in in-home pediatric behavioral health, announced this week a $219 million Series B funding campaign that will further the company’s mission in helping kids with autism and other behavioral health challenges by using technology to match families with therapists, board certified behavior analysts and hands-on Registered Behavior Therapists (RBT) through telehealth.
Elemy — formerly known as Sprout Therapy — offers online and in-home pediatric behavioral care that was established, in part, to reduce waiting times to find an experienced therapist and begin evidence-based treatment. The company also puts an emphasis on collecting and utilizing data to inform individualized treatment and measure outcomes.
Elemy plans to use funds from the Series B to invest in significantly growing its staff to expand its national reach. Currently, the company has over 1,000 employees and operates in 14 states. The company has been expanding rapidly, and boasted a 19-times revenue bump from August 2020 to August 2021.
Yury Yakubchyk, Elemy’s CEO, said in a news release that when the company was started, he understood that the “current model of pediatric behavioral care was broken.”
“Since day one, our mission has been to use technology, along with a team of talented and dedicated medical professionals, to completely transform access to quality care,” Yakubchyk said. “We’ve partnered with the most renowned tech investors in the world to bring our care to even more homes, nationally, and plan to expand into new areas of treatment for underserved conditions.”
In the United States, about one in five children struggles with a behavioral health disorder, but most are not able to get the care they need. Elemy aims to make access easier for families across the country with its tech-enabled platform for personalized care.
A 2019 study showed that from 2007 to 2017, behavioral health claims for adjustment disorders in kids from ages 11 to 18 increased 54%. The pediatric share of claims for major depressive disorder rose also from 15% to 23% and
According to the CDC, 6.1 million kids ages 2-17 have received an ADHD diagnosis, 4.5 million have a diagnosed behavior problem and 4.4 million have diagnosed anxiety.
Elemy believes that because children are more comfortable at home and have fewer distractions, online and telehealth pediatric care is the future of behavioral care for kids. Data collected at in-home telehealth visits is used to “measure efficacy and inform the evolution of both individual treatment plans and broader clinical strategies,” according to the company.
Elemy uses its technology to “streamline the lengthy and complex process of receiving an autism diagnosis” and the process of actually starting treatment for children.
On average, the patient onboarding process can take anywhere from six months to two years. Elemy reduces that process to as little as 12 weeks, giving families time that is critical for achieving the best possible outcomes for their children.
According to the company, patients have reported an average reduction of 83% in problem behaviors after being in care for at least six months, while gaining an 88% increase in new skills over the same time period.
Andrew Zloto, the director at SoftBank Investment Advisers, said his firm believes “Elemy’s innovative tech-enabled model has the potential to improve the current standard of treatment for pediatric autism and deliver measurable outcomes.” Zloto said.
The company will also invest in R&D to further enhance its technology offerings and to expand into new areas of behavioral care.
Written by Patrick Filbin
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