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 School-focused telemental health provider Cartwheel raised $20 million in Series A funding, CEO Joe English tells Axios exclusively.

Why it matters: Just last month, three high-profile medical associations warned that emergency rooms were buckling under the youth surge in demand for psychiatric care.

"This is the crisis of our times, even in an era of COVID," says Menlo Ventures partner and Cartwheel investor Greg Yap.

New backer Reach Capital participated alongside previous investors General Catalyst, BoxGroup and Able Partners.

The Series A will be funneled into expanding Cartwheel's services to new states and to new schools in states where the company already has a presence.

English tells Axios the funding gives Cartwheel three to four years of runway.

How it works: Based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cartwheel provides virtual individual and group therapy, plus parent guidance and medication support, and accepts most commercial and Medicaid insurance plans.

Cartwheel offers its services free to uninsured students and those with Medicaid.

School counselors refer students to Cartwheel, which treats a wide range of behavioral health issues, from social skill building and school avoidance to grief, loss, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and self-harm.

It does not treat issues that generally require more of an in-person approach, such as primary substance use disorders, eating disorders or active psychosis.

The company uses a blended funding model: The majority comes from health insurers; the rest comes from school districts.

"It's really an in-network health care provider that partners with schools," says Yap. "Schools can help pay for this, but they can't afford all of it."

Zoom in: Cartwheel tracks student outcomes using a combination of satisfaction and accessibility questions plus standard anxiety and depression scales such as the GAD-7 and PHQ-8.

What they're saying: English grew up on a farm in upstate New York, where he began envisioning schools — and teachers, counselors and administrators — as playing a key role in the provision of mental health services for students.

"People looked to [my school] for a lot more than education. They looked to it for social services, a hot meal, and a roof in some cases, and certainly for health care and for mental health care," English says.

Flashback: English met Cartwheel co-founder and COO Daniel Tartakovsky at McKinsey, where they both worked as consultants.

Before starting Cartwheel, English founded a nonprofit focused on schools and emotional learning.

Tartakovsky was a mental health adviser to U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, where he contributed to the Surgeon General's 2021 Advisory on Protecting Youth Mental Health.

State of play: While most venture funding for behavioral health has historically been funneled towards employer-facing offerings, investors have been turning to a fresh crop of school-focused telemental health startups.   

Daybreak Health, which partners with California schools and pediatricians to offer its telehealth services, last March collected $10 million in Series A funds.

Hazel Health, a provider of virtual pediatric mental and physical health services, last October raised $51.5 million in Series C1 capital.

Pediatric behavioral health company Brightline last March pulled in $105 million in unlabeled funding.

🤸🏻 One fun thing: The name Cartwheel is meant to represent joy.

"Mental health should be about helping kids experience joy, and envision and build toward a life that they're super excited to live," says English

Exclusive: Student teletherapy provider Cartwheel raises $20M Series A

Illustration of a child surrounded by medical crosses receding into the distance

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School-focused telemental health provider Cartwheel raised $20 million in Series A funding, CEO Joe English tells Axios exclusively.Why it matters: Just last month, three high-profile medical associations <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="warned" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/16/youth-mental-health-crisis-emergency" data-vars-content-id="e0c01735-06be-473d-a296-02c11f8f41f4" data-vars-headline="Exclusive: Student teletherapy provider Cartwheel raises $20M Series A" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/2023/08/16/youth-mental-health-crisis-emergency" target="_self">warned</a> that emergency rooms were buckling under the youth surge in demand for psychiatric care.

Exclusive: Student teletherapy provider Cartwheel raises $20M Series A

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