Brightline Raises $72m in Series B Funding to Expand Digital Therapy for Children

Brightline, the category leader in digital pediatric behavioral healthcare, announced June 16th it raised $72M new funding to fuel nationwide expansion in 2021. 

The preemptive $72M Series B funding round was led by GV (formerly Google Ventures), featuring both new and returning investors. Optum Ventures, 7wireVentures, and Gaingels, the leading venture investment syndicate in support of diversity and representing the LGBTQ community and allies, invested for the first time, as well as Debra Lee, Chairman and CEO Emeritus, BET Networks, who also contributed as an independent investor. Oak HC/FT, Threshold Ventures, Blue Shield of California, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, SemperVirens VC, and City Light Capital are returning investors. The round includes $7M of venture debt from Silicon Valley Bank. 

This successful round comes less than a year after the company launched the first comprehensive virtual behavioral health solution for children, teenagers, and their families. Brightline has now raised a total of nearly $100 million in funding.

More children are facing mental health issues and their families struggle

The community of Illinois is concerned after the results of a study involving Chicago’s children raised alarm among the healthcare specialists.  The study conducted by the Pritzker Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Lurie Children’s Hospital found that 20% of kids today are dealing with serious mental health issues. And the coronavirus pandemic has only made things worse. 

“In the past year, families everywhere have felt the impact of the pandemic on their children and daily lives. We’re seeing more children, adolescents, and teens than ever with behavioral health challenges — now is the time for us to get ahead of the coming wave of need,” said Naomi Allen, Brightline CEO and co-founder. “We are fortunate to have incredible partners in GV and all of our investors who joined us to make a difference in the lives of children and families. The latest funding will allow us to innovate even more quickly, expand rapidly, and help more children and families get the care they deserve.”

Rates of behavioral health conditions are skyrocketing throughout the country, and working families are taking the toll, since parents have to give up their employment in order to take care of their suffering children. According to the statistics from the Census Bureau, around 10 million American mothers living with their school-age children were not working at the start of 2021, a staggering 1.4 million increase compared to 2020. 

Understanding your impact is crucial in digital healthcare 

Digital health is a very young sector of the healthcare industry. There’s still a lot to do in terms of adoption and understanding its impact.

However, certain approaches in digital health have shown that to really succeed you have to make a real difference to the industry, and not develop something that is in trend, but it does not fit the market or solve an issue. There are at least a few factors which help move digital health solutions forward, and keeping them in mind is the key to success. Understanding your impact and the conditions in which you provide a product or services is essential. 

Brightline’s survey of working parents and caregivers found that 50% reported losing significant productivity at work in caring for their children’s behavioral health needs.

Brightline also found in that survey that 75% of parents say they will choose to treat their child’s mental health, considering it more important than their own, which shows the need for family-oriented solutions. The new funds will help primarily to expand Brightline’s care nationwide, in order to bring behavioral health support to families whenever and wherever they need it.  

“CDC data shows that an estimated 1 in 5 U.S. children has a diagnosed mental or behavioral health condition — yet 80% will not get the care they need. Pediatric behavioral health care is often less accessible and comprehensive than care for adults,” said Ben Robbins, psychiatrist and Venture Partner at GV who is joining Brightline’s Board of Directors. “Brightline addresses the huge unmet need of pediatric behavioral health services and is uniquely positioned to provide multiple levels of care based on the needs of patients and families.”

Glen Tullman, CEO of Transcarent and Managing Partner at 7wireVentures, and Laura Veroneau, Partner at Optum Ventures, are joining Brightline as Board Observers.

Make your service available and its availability known

The healthcare industry being a challenging and competitive marketplace, it is extremely important to advertise and promote your service or product, so marketing becomes crucial.

Brightline understood all the aspects mentioned above, so they announced to be also embarking on their biggest expansion to date, introducing new products nationwide and introducing their clinical services into new states. 

Brightline Connect and Brightline Coaching will be available nationwide this summer.

• Brightline Connect digital platform allows families access to personalized content, tips and guides for parents and caregivers, interactive exercises, and chat with a coach for support when and where they need it.
• Brightline Coaching offers families support from expert behavioral health coaches through skill-building programs that help people cope with everyday challenges. The first programs of their kind designed just for families, Brightline Coaching can help with issues like stress, anxiety, organizational skills, tantrums, disruptive behavior, social-emotional learning, and more in as few as four weeks.

Another plan is to expand Brightline Care nationwide by the end of 2021 to support national employers and health plans. Brightline’s clinical services — including behavior therapy, medication support, and speech therapy — are now available in California and Massachusetts,  Washington will launch it in July, and several more states are following soon, Brightline envisioning to cover all 50 states by the end of this year.

About Brightline

Founded in 2019 by leading digital health entrepreneurs Naomi Allen and Giovanni Colella, MD and headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Brightline is the first comprehensive behavioral health solution built specifically to care for children, teens, and their families across a range of common challenges. With multidisciplinary care teams, a family-focused approach, evidence-based care delivery, and innovative technology, Brightline is able to support families with whatever challenges they’re facing and help them thrive long-term. The company is backed by leading investors GV (formerly Google Ventures), Oak HC/FT, and Threshold Ventures.