Autism Impact Fund Makes Investments in Seven Startups

The Autism Impact Fund (AIF), which provides venture capital and private equity capital to emerging autism care companies, announced recently that it had invested in seven growth and early-stage companies. 

The total amount of funding provided to the companies by AIF was not disclosed. The companies receiving AIF funding included:

• Axial Therapeutics: A clinical stage biopharmaceutical developer of molecule agents, which are intended to treat a variety of conditions like autism
• BiROSA Technologies: A developer of blood tests intended to diagnose autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
• Floreo VR: A virtual platform that provides a range of behavioral therapies
• Joshin: A telebehavioral provider of specialized care needs such as those for autism
• SpectrumAi: A digital company of applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy, widely considered to be a gold standard of autism care
• Suggestic: An artificial intelligence platform that provides tailored food resources and health programs
• Yamo Pharmaceuticals: A drug discovery company that is developing a novel therapy for core autism symptoms

“We created the Autism Impact Fund with the ambition of becoming the investment and innovation arm of the autism community,” Christopher Male, a co-founder and managing partner of AIF, said in a press release regarding the investments made in the seven companies.

Male is the father of a young son with ASD. Additionally, SpectrumAi founder and CEO Ling Shao is the mother of four boys with ASD.

“We have strong conviction that a for-profit venture capital model is the best way to sustainably accelerate the development and delivery of a wide range of emerging technologies, translational science and innovative services to empower individuals to live happily and thrive,” Male added in the press release.

Nationwide, 1 in 54 children have been diagnosed with ASD, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rates of ASD diagnoses have risen 10% since 2014, which has helped propel the growth of a domestic autism care market currently valued at $2.1 billion.

AIF previously invested in a July funding round for BioROSA that netted the company north of $3 million. AIF also participated in a funding round the following month for Joshin, in which the telehealth provider raised $3 million in seed funding.

Axial has raised the most money to date among the seven beneficiaries of funding newly doled out by AIF. Prior to the announcement, Axial had pulled in nearly $116 million over six rounds, according to fundraising tracking site Crunchbase.